Wofford 54, Fairfield 36

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – Senior Karl Cochran went for 10 points and 10 rebounds and the Wofford men’s basketball team shot 60 percent in the second half to cruise by Fairfield, 54-36, Friday night in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at Webster Bank Arena.

Wofford (2-1) never trailed, holding the Stags to just 12 first-half points on 12 turnovers and 4-of-20 shooting. The Terrier defense held true in the second half. Fairfield went without a field goal for 16:14, not scoring a second-half basket until the 7:16 mark.

A 14-1 run blew the game open. Five different Terriers scored through a five-minute span, led by five points from sophomore Eric Garcia. Garcia and Cochran each buried a 3-pointer during the run, with Cochran’s putting Wofford comfortably in front 40-20.

Junior Justin Gordon led all scorers with 11 points, going for nine in the final 20 minutes. The 6-foot-6 forward finished the evening 5-of-7 shooting. Cochran went 4-of-10, including 2-of-5 from deep, adding two assists and a steal.

Wofford also got nine points from junior Spencer Collins and eight apiece from senior Lee Skinner and sophomore Eric Garcia. Garcia ran the point well, tying his career-high with six assists. Skinner was a force on the glass with eight boards.

The Terriers struggled offensively at just 31 percent in the opening half, but shot 15-of-25 in the second to run away with it.

After an 18-1 advantage in second chance points Tuesday against Iona, the Terriers finished the evening with a 12-4 edge against Fairfield. Wofford also held a 32-14 advantage in the paint.

For the Stags, Marcus Gilbert scored 10 points on 3-of-7 shooting and 4-of-6 at the line. Amadou Sidibe had a team-high nine boards.

After a few empty possessions to start the game for both sides, Garcia hit a trey from the baseline to give the Terriers the first lead. Buckets by freshmen Cameron Jackson and Derrick Brooks followed, and a dunk by Gordon pushed Wofford ahead 9-4.

Fairfield started 1-of-10 from the floor with eight turnovers before Tyler Nelson ended the drought at the 8:43 mark. Still, the game was close. Wofford was going through its own offensive struggles and Nelson’s basket brought the deficit to just three points.

The Terriers began to find their rhythm and extended the lead. Cochran led the charge, getting fouled on the way to the rim and scoring seven straight Wofford points. Collins followed with a mid-range jumper and the Terriers led 18-10 with four minutes before the half.

Eight points remained the margin at the break. Fairfield came in shooting 4-of-20 (20 pct.) while Wofford was 9-of-29 (31 pct.). The Stags had double the amount of turnovers (12-6) with the help of three Terrier steals.

Skinner came out of the locker room on fire, scoring the first six Terrier points to double-up the lead at 26-13. He started out with a layup off an inside pass from Cochran and then pulled up for back-to-back 12-footers from the left wing.

Foul trouble was the only thing keeping Fairfield in the game. Wofford committed its seventh foul of the half less than seven minutes in and the Stags scored their first 10 points from the charity stripe. Two by Sidibe brought the Terrier lead back to seven.

The 14-1 run followed. Gordon heated up late, accounting for nine of Wofford’s final 13 points. A two-handed slam took all the energy out of the arena with five minutes to play, as the Terriers moved above .500 on the young season.

 

Western Carolina 72, Hiwassee 53

CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina men’s basketball head coach Larry Hunter joined a group of 33 coaches who have achieved 650 career wins while spending 10 or more seasons at the Division I level as the Catamounts defeated Hiwassee College 72-53 Friday night. Hunter’s record now sits at 650-378 over his 35-year head coaching career.

Senior James Sinclair led all scorers as he extended his 20-plus point scoring streak to three games as he poured in 25 points while also leading all rebounders with nine. He was 9-14 from the field, 1-4 from three and 6-8 from the free throw line.

Junior Rhett Harrelson dished out a career-high six assists with zero turnovers while scoring 12 points. He missed just two shots on the night while going 4-6 from the field including 3-4 from 3-point range. He also knocked down 1-of-2 from the free throw line. Junior Mike Brown also scored 12 points while going 6-11 from the field including 0-4 from 3-point range.

Junior Torrion Brummitt finished second on the team in rebounding with six boards. He also scored seven points and picked up two steals.

All 12 Catamounts saw the floor with Ashley and Aaron Williams scoring their first career points. Ashley scored a 3-pointer with six minutes left in the first half while his brother Aaron drained a long range two-pointer with one second left in the second half.

The win is WCU’s first of the season as the Catamounts improve to 1-2 on the season. The Tigers of Hiwassee fell to 0-9 on the year.

The Catamounts struggled to find their offensive rhythm throughout the contest against the non-Division I opponent. WCU was just 1-10 from the field nine minutes into the game but trailed by just one at 11-10 due to eight free throws. Hiwassee’s largest lead came early in the contest as they held a 7-1 advantage four minutes in. After leading 1-0, the Catamounts did not lead in the game again till the 10:41 mark of the first half when a Brown layup gave WCU a 12-11 lead. The two teams traded baskets over the next several possessions but a 9-0 run by the Catamounts late in the period gave WCU a 27-17 lead with 4:51 to play. The Tigers answered with a 9-1 run to close out the half and cut WCU’s lead to just two, 28-26.

The Catamounts outscored the Tigers 44-27 in the second half led by Sinclair’s 17 points. WCU shot 59.4 percent from the field in the period while holding the Tigers to 35.5 percent.

 

Longwood 81, UNCG 79 (OT)

YPSILANTI, Mich. – Despite hitting a game-tying three-pointer at the end of regulation, the UNCG men’s basketball team opened the EMU Showcase Friday evening with an 81-79 overtime loss to Longwood at the Convocation Center in Ypsilanti, Mich. The Spartans held a four-point lead with 1:32 left in the extra period, but Longwood closed the game on a 7-1 run to take home the victory.

Redshirt sophomore center R.J. White led four Spartans in double figures with his first double-double of the season. White scored a team-high 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as he was 8-of-14 from the field in 34 minutes of action. Sophomore guard Clay Byrd scored a career-high 18 points in his third career start as he was 6-of-11 from 3-point land while playing a career-high 42 minutes.

Sophomore guard Tevon Saddler finished the game with 19 points as well despite playing only 27 minutes. Saddler hit the game-tying 3-pointer with 2.4 second left in regulation but fouled out early in the overtime period. Senior guard Nicholas Paulos rounded out the Spartans in double figures with 12 points and seven assists while junior Kayel Locke added eight points and eight rebounds.

The short-handed Spartans played only seven scholarship players in the loss and suffered another injury during the game when senior Jamal Mitchell went down early in the first half with a knee injury after playing only four minutes. Four Spartans played over 30 minutes in the loss, including a career-high 44 minutes for Paulos and 42 from Byrd.

Longwood (2-1) was led by Darrion Allen’s 22 points, 18 of which came after halftimem, as he was 7-of-14 from the field, including four 3-pointers. Lotanna Nwogbo posted a double-double before fouling out late in the second half with 18 points and 12 rebounds as he was 10-of-11 from the free throw line. Ryan Badowski added 15 points off the bench while Shaquille Johnson chipped in 13 points.

The Spartans finished the game shooting 43.9 percent (29-of-66) from the field and hit 11-of-28 from long range. UNCG was off the mark at the free throw line hitting just 58.8 percent (10-of-17), including 3-of-6 in the extra frame. Longwood conversely went to the free throw line 11 more times than the Spartans and connected on 75 percent (21-of-28). The Lancers also hit 41.9 percent (26-of-62) from the field and 8-of-26 from long range.

The two teams came out slowly with the Spartans scoring the first five points on their way to an early 23-13 lead. Byrd was the offensive catalyst in the early going, hitting three early from long range. Longwood came back and posted a 10-2 run to narrow the gap to two before tying the game at 28-28 going into the halftime break.

The Spartans held a slim 37-36 lead early in the second half when Saddler picked up his fourth foul of the game. Longwood answered with seven straight to force a UNCG timeout before Byrd got the Spartans back on track with his fifth 3-pointer of the game. The Lancers kept pressing and took a 56-50 lead as Allen hit another 3-pointer. The Spartans responded with seven straight points, including five from White as he nailed a 3-pointer to cap the spurt.

Longwood held a 67-63 lead with 19 seconds remaining in regulation as Badowski hit a three-pointer with the shot clock running down. Saddler was fouled and hit his first free throw but missed the second. White was there on the rebound and tipped in the shot to make it a one-point game at 67-66. After a pair of free throws by Leron Fisher gave the Lancers a 69-66 lead, Saddler came out of a timeout and nailed a 3-pointer with 2.4 seconds left to send the game into overtime.

The teams traded baskets in the early part of the overtime and were tied at 74-74. White converted a pair of free throws and scored in the paint on consecutive possessions to give the Spartans a 78-74 lead with 1:32 remaining. The Spartans held on defense and got the ball back but committed a costly turnover with 1:13 left to play.

Allen made UNCG pay as he nailed a 3-pointer with 55 seconds left to make it a one-point game. After Paulos hit one of two from the line, Allen nailed another 3-pointer with 28 seconds left to give Longwood an 80-79 lead. White missed both of his free throws on the ensuing possession but Fisher only made one of his two for a two-point 81-79 lead. The Spartans were unable to get a good look off on the basket in the final two possessions as Longwood held on for the improbable victory.

The Spartans committed 24 turnovers in the loss and those turnovers led to 27 points against. The Spartans out-rebounded Longwood by a 43-39 advantage in the loss but allowed 12 offensive rebounds, including a key one in overtime allowing the Lancers an extra possession.