Davidson 73, Furman 56
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Chris Czerapowicz (21) and De’Mon Brooks (18) combined for 39 points and Davidson shot 50 percent for the second straight contest to defeat Furman, 73-56, in Southern Conference men’s basketball action Thursday evening at Timmons Arena.
Czerapowicz, who entered the contest shooting just 20 percent from long range on the season, converted 5-of-8 attempts and went 4-for-5 from the stripe en route to a season-high performance.
Coming of perhaps the best game of his career, Brooks went 7-of-13 from the floor, and hit two 3-pointers to go along with nine boards and three blocks.
Davidson (6-10, 2-0 SoCon), which led from start to finish, handed out 18 assists on 24 field goals, drilled 11-of-26 (.423) from behind the arc and turned in a 77.8 percentage at the free-throw line.
After Furman (6-10, 0-3 SoCon) erased an early 10-point deficit to get to within one possession on separate occasions, Davidson closed the first half on a 13-3 run capped off by three straight treys, including Czerapowicz’s fourth of the period, to take a 41-28 lead into the break.
In addition to shooting 52 percent in the opening 20 minutes, the Wildcats were paced by Czerapowicz and Brooks in the half with 14 and 12 points, respectively.
The Paladins got to within six with 7:57 to play, but Davidson responded with a 19-5 spurt highlighted by four 3-pointers to stretch the margin to as many as 20 and put the game out of reach.
Stephen Croone, the league’s second leading scorer, was the lone Furman player in double figures with 21 points, which included a 10-for-14 effort at the line.
The Paladins, who turned it over 21 times, shot 43.9 percent overall and 25 percent from 3-point range.
Wofford 79, The Citadel 75 (OT)
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford men’s basketball needed overtime to come away with a 79-75 win over The Citadel on Thursday night at Benjamin Johnson Arena. The Bulldogs led by as many as eleven in the second half as they shot 62 percent from three, but the Terriers came back and tied the game with 35 seconds left in regulation. Wofford had a 9-5 advantage in overtime to earn the victory.
Wofford is 7-8 on the season and 2-1 in the Southern Conference. The Citadel is 4-13 overall and 0-2 in league play. The Terriers were led by Lee Skinner with a career-high 28 points and 13 rebounds to notch his third double-double of the season. Spencer Collins had 14 and Karl Cochran added 12 points for Wofford. Matt Van Scyoc led the Bulldogs with 22 points, as he was 6-of-7 from behind the arc, and he had seven rebounds.
The Terriers opened the game with a pair of free throws by Indiana Faithfull. A long three pointer by Karl Cochran gave Wofford a 5-2 lead after three minutes of play. The Citadel answered with a three, but a jumper by Indiana Faithfull made it 7-5 at the 16:17 mark. The Bulldogs went on a 7-0 run to take a 12-7 lead with 13:35 on the clock. Lee Skinner ended the run with a lay-up, however another three pointer by The Citadel made it a 16-9 game after eight minutes.
Wofford cut the lead to 18-13 after a lay-up by Aerris Smith with 10:45 remaining in the first half. A tip-in by Lee Skinner made it an 18-15 score, but once again the Bulldogs answered with a three pointer and lay-up for a 23-15 lead with 8:29 on the clock. Wofford used a quick 6-0 run to cut the lead to 23-21 before another three pointer by the Bulldogs with six minutes to play. A short jumper by Justin Gordon made it a 26-23 game, however The Citadel scored four straight points for a 30-23 lead with four minutes left in the half. With 2:30 on the clock, Eric Garcia hit a three pointer for a 32-29 score. Justin Gordon hit the final basket of the first half to make it a 36-33 game.
To start the second half, Karl Cochran had a lay-up to make it a one-point game. A three by the Bulldogs pushed the lead back to 41-37 before a bucket by Lee Skinner. The Citadel hit yet another three for a 44-39 advantage. Lee Skinner cut the score to 46-44 with 16:30 on the clock. The Bulldogs then scored four straight points for a 50-44 lead until a pair of free throws by Karl Cochran at the 13:51 mark.
Again, the Bulldogs answered with a 7-0 run for their largest lead of the night at 57-46. Spencer Collins ended the run with a bucket and added a three to cut the score to 57-51 with 11:05 left in the second half. Lee Skinner had a lay-up and a tip-in by Justin Gordon made it a 60-57 game. At the 6:55 mark, Karl Cochran had a lay-up to make it a 62-61 score. Eric Garcia hit a three pointer to give Wofford a 66-65 lead with 4:16 remaining.
A free throw by the Bulldogs tied it at 66 and another gave them a one-point lead. C.J. Neumann put Wofford back up at 68-67 with 1:21 left in the game. The Citadel’s Matt Van Scyoc hit his sixth three-pointer of the game for a 70-68 lead with 50 seconds on the clock. Karl Cochran tied it at 70 with a shot from the corner with just 31 seconds left. The Citadel’s last shot attempt missed and the game headed to overtime.
Spencer Collins hit back-to-back shots to give Wofford a 74-70 lead early in the overtime period. The Citadel answered with a three pointer and Lee Skinner hit two free throws for a 76-73 lead with 2:23 left in overtime. Following a Bulldog basket, Karl Cochran made a free throw for a 77-75 advantage. The Citadel missed two free throws with 14.5 seconds left and Spencer Collins came down with the rebound. He was fouled and made one free throw for a 78-75 lead with 13.2 on the clock. The Bulldogs put up a three with two seconds left, but Lee Skinner pulled down the rebound. He was fouled and made one free throw with 0.2 seconds on the clock for the 79-75 final score.
Wofford shot 49.2 percent from the floor. The Citadel shot 54.9 percent overall. The Terriers were 3-of-10 from with three, while the Bulldogs were 10-of-16 from behind the arc. The Citadel was 9-of-19 from the line while Wofford was 14-of-19 on free throws. The Terriers had a 39 to 25 advantage on the glass and only committed seven turnovers.
It was the first overtime game of the season for Wofford. The last time Wofford won an overtime game was on November 21, 2010 against George Mason. The Terriers have now won 13 of the last 14 meetings against The Citadel.
UNCG 66, Appalachian State 60
BOONE, N.C. – The UNCG men’s basketball team turned in a strong second half effort to lead the Spartans to a 66-60 victory over Southern Conference and in-state rival Appalachian State Thursday night at the Holmes Center. The victory improves the Spartans to 2-1 in SoCon action and drops the Mountaineers to 0-2 in league play.
The Spartans finished the game shooting 46.9 percent (23-of-49) from the field holding Appalachian State to just 34.5 percent (20-of-58) and just 5-for-17 from the three-point line in the victory. UNCG has already matched its win total from a season ago with nine wins in 18 games.
The Spartans (9-9, 2-1 SoCon) had three different players scored in double figures and six players score at least five points in a balanced effort against the Mountaineers. Freshman Tevon Saddler and Junior Nicholas Paulos led the Spartans in scoring with 13 points apiece, respectively. Paulos was 3-for-6 from the three-point line and Saddler was 7-for-11 from the free throw line.
Junior forward Kyle Cain earned his SoCon-leading sixth double-double of the season after scoring 12 points (6-for-11) and pulling down 14 rebounds.
The Spartans opened to an early lead with a 10-3 run to take an 18-9 advantage just under 10 minutes into the game. Cain scored six points in the run while sophomore guard Jordan Potts hit a runner in the lane to give UNCG a nine-point lead.
After Appalachian State posted eight straight points to pull within one, UNCG answered back with a 7-0 spurt to take a 25-17 lead. Paulos started it with a three-pointer in transition while Saddler drove baseline for the open basket.
The Mountaineers closed the half on a 13-4 run to take a 30-29 lead into the locker room. Chris Burgess hit a three-pointer to start the run while Tevin Baskin nailed a long distance shot to give ASU the late lead with under 10 seconds remaining in the half.
The Spartans connected on 46.2 percent (12-of-26) from the field in the first half but hit just 2-of-8 from long range. UNCG also committed 11 turnovers in the first half, which led to 10 points for the Mountaineers. Paulos led the Spartans with eight points in the half while Cain and redshirt freshman center R.J. White each added six points. Appalachian State connected on 30 percent (9-of-30) from the field but hit 4-7 from distance and 8-of-9 from the free throw line. Jay Canty led all scorers with 11 points while Baskin added seven points.
The Spartans came out of the halftime break and opened on a 9-4 run to take a 38-34 lead. Saddler scored the first four points of the second half before senior guard Drew Parker hit a three-pointer after being left wide open on the wing. The run was capped by some hard work on the inside as White battled for an offensive rebound and put back.
The Blue and Gold put the pressure on defensively in the second half holding the Mountaineers to just 30 points. At the 12:00 minute mark, Appalachian State cut the lead to 42-41 before sophomore Jordan Potts scored four-straight points to give the Spartans a five-point advantage. The run was sparked by a key steal by Potts leading to a fast break layup to push the lead to 46-41
UNCG took the lead for good with a key 12-5 run to take a 61-50 lead. Paulos started the run with a three-pointer and sophomore Kayel Locke converted a conventional three-point play to push the lead to 56-48. Cain found space and made a driving layup to cap the 12-5 run with 1:28 left in the game.
The Blue and Gold hit a bunch of free throws down the stretch to clinch the win with Saddler going 4-for-6 in the final minute. UNCG won the rebounding battle grabbing 41 rebounds, including 34 on the defensive end in the win.
Chattanooga 90, Samford 81
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.---Junior guard Ronrico White scored a career-high 28 points to lead the Chattanooga Mocs to a 90-81 win over Samford in McKenzie Arena. Chattanooga led wire-to-wire and now sits atop the Southern Conference standings at 3-0, 9-8 overall.
White was fantastic all night. He was a perfect 12-12 from the free throw line while hitting six-of-10 from the field including four-of-six from beyond the arc. The Knoxville native added four assists tying his season high turned in Monday night at The Citadel.
Four others tallied double digits for the Mocs. Z. Mason extended his double-double streak to six games with 16 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks. Casey Jones added 14 points hitting all seven shot attempts, while Martynas Bareika and Gee McGhee chipped in 12 and 11, respectively.
Samford, which falls to 6-12 and 0-3 in the league, also had five scorers reach double figures. Tim Williams, Tyler Hood and Isaiah Williams each scored 15 pints. Connor Miller had 12, and Jordan Capps added 10 points and team-high eight rebounds.
Jones got the Mocs started in a big way. He scored 12 of his 14 in the first 10-plus minutes of the contest on an assortment of dunks and jumpers. The 12th point was on a jumper at 9:39 staking Chattanooga to a 24-14 advantage.
Capps scored a layup at 5:17 to get the Bulldogs with eight, 32-24. The Mocs answered with a 14-3 run to take its largest lead, 46-27, on a Mason free throw after back-to-back Bareika treys. It was a 48-33 margin at the break.
There was an ebb and flow the rest of the way. Samford closed within 10 or 11 points, and then Chattanooga got it back to 15. A Miller three-pointer at 7:36 finally got the Bulldogs inside single digits, 71-62. But the Mocs would not let it slip away.
Samford continued to chip away at the lead making it an eight-point game, 77-69, on Tim Williams’ layup at 2:40. Mason came up big with a monster tip dunk at 2:27 and then two free throws at 1:53 to keep it a 10-point game.
The Bulldogs got as close as five, 86-81, on an Isaiah Williams three-pointer with 18 seconds left, but could get no closer. White (6-6) and McGhee (2-2) hit all eight free throws in the final 35 seconds to keep the visitors at by.
The Mocs have now won five in a row, a first since a six-game win streak in 2009-10. The squad is 3-0 in the SoCon for the first time since a 7-0 start in 2010-11. That’s good for a half-game lead in the league standings over Western Carolina and Davidson at 2-0.
It was a tale of two halves for the home team. Chattanooga shot 51.5 percent (17-33) in the opening frame, but just 38.1 percent (8-21) in the second 20. It hit a season-best 47.4 percent (9-19) from three-point range and went 31 of 41 from the charity stripe (.756).