The Citadel 84, Warren Wilson 45
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Ashton Moore notched a team-high 15 points and led five players in double figures as The Citadel earned its fifth straight win at McAlister Field House with an 84-45 triumph over Warren Wilson on Saturday afternoon. The Bulldogs led wire-to-wire in the contest as they moved to 3-3 on the season.
Joining Moore in double-digit points among the starters included Quinton Marshall (14) and P.J. Horgan (12). Meanwhile, C.J. Bray and Jake Wright provided an added scoring punch among the reserves with 10 points apiece.
The Citadel finished 28-of-47 from the field and knocked down 9-of-15 from beyond the arc. By hitting better than 50 percent from the floor in each half, the Cadets tied the 2000-01 squad for the fourth-most consecutive home wins this century.
The Bulldogs also took advantage of 19-of-24 shooting from the charity stripe as they had their highest offensive output of the season.
Moore reached double figures due in large part to a 3-of-5 performance from 3-point range, finishing 5-of-8 from the field. Marshall was also successful from long distance as he converted all three attempts and closed the game hitting 5-of-7 from the floor.
Horgan applied his size in the post to maneuver past the Owls for a 5-of-9 outing as he topped the double figure mark for the fifth time in six games. Bray reached double digits in similar fashion as he finished 5-of-7 from the floor.
Wright tallied his second double figure performance in as many contests, knocking down 2-of-6 from 3-point range. He also converted the first four free throws of his Bulldog career.
The Citadel finished with a 23-7 advantage in total assists led by Moore (six) and Marshall Harris III (five). The Dogs also closed the game with a 38-32 edge in rebounds, highlighted by Brian White's team-high seven, despite allowing 15 offensive boards.
Warren Wilson (6-5) was led by the tandem of Ty Johnson (21 points) and Timmy Johnson (17). Ty Johnson pumped in the game-high by hitting 8-of-22 from the floor and 4-of-15 from 3-point range. Meanwhile, Timmy Johnson converted 6-of-12 from the field and knocked down three from long distance.
The biggest difference for the Owls came in the front court as the combination of Thomas Hays, Timmy Johnson and Ty Johnson combined for nine offensive boards. Hays, who led all rebounders with nine caroms, snagged four on the offensive glass.
The Citadel used eight points each by Horgan and Marshall to open up a 28-2 lead in the first 13:56 of the contest as it cruised to a 43-10 lead by the intermission. The Bulldogs noticeable advantage on the scoreboard was due to 15-of-26 shooting from the field.
Defensively, The Citadel held Warren Wilson to 10 points in the opening frame to tie for the third-fewest first half points in school history since 1969 as the Owls hit just 4-of-31 from the floor.
Warren Wilson managed to get the deficit under 30 points on three occasions throughout the second half, but the Bulldogs hit 13-of-21 from the field and 5-of-8 from 3-point range to secure the decisive win.
William & Mary 66, Wofford 62
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The Wofford men’s basketball team saw its five-game winning streak come to an end in a 66-62 loss at William & Mary, Saturday evening at Kaplan Arena.
The Tribe began the game with the first 14 points and Wofford never led. Marcus Thornton scored eight during the run and finished with a game-high 25 on 7-of-10 shooting.
Despite trailing by as many as 17, the Terriers cut the lead to as little as two a couple times down the stretch. Freshman Cameron Jackson converted a pair at the line to make it 61-59 with 2:55 remaining. A 3-pointer by Eric Garcia with 40.9 ticks left made it a two-point game once more, 64-62.
Thornton hit just 1-of-2 at the line with 15.5 remaining to give Wofford a chance at overtime. Senior Karl Cochran shot the potential game-tying three and had it on line, but it hit the back iron and was rebounded by Omar Prewitt.
William & Mary (5-1) earned its fifth straight win and finished the game shooting 65.6 percent from the field (21-32). Wofford (5-2) shot 46.7 percent with the same amount of made field goals (21-45), but the Tribe got to the line for 32 free throw attempts. They made just 19 of them, but it was enough to make the difference in the game.
The Terriers were able to get back in the game with 16 points off nine William & Mary turnovers in the second half. Wofford completed the night with a 23-11 edge in points off turnovers, winning the battle 15-11.
Junior Spencer Collins tied his season high with 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Senior Lee Skinner and sophomore Eric Garcia joined him in in double figures with 13 apiece. Cochran led the rebounding effort with a game-high nine to go with eight points.
Prewitt and Sean Sheldon were the supporting cast to Thornton’s 25 points. Prewitt had 13 and Sheldon had 10, making all three of his shots from the field. Sheldon and Terry Tarpey gathered a team-high six rebounds each.
The Tribe hit their first three field goal attempts to lead 9-0 through the opening three minutes. Thornton then buried his second triple of the run and after Prewitt made it 14-0 Coach Young took a timeout.
Garcia got the Terriers on the board with a long jumper at the 15:12 mark. A Cochran three and Skinner layup followed to immediately cut the lead in half, 14-7.
The Tribe brought Wofford’s run to a halt by scoring the next 10 points to take their biggest lead of the game, 24-7, with just over 10 minutes gone by. Thornton capped it with three the old-fashioned way, bringing his total to 11 points and leading the Tribe to a 9-of-10 start from the field.
Wofford fought back once more with 10 of the next 13 points. Garcia was good for the bucket and the foul with 6:02 before half, cutting the deficit back to 10 for the first time at 27-17.
Ten points was the margin at the break. Thornton had 18 of William & Mary’s 38, while Collins led all Terriers with nine. The Tribe missed just six shots (12-18) and Cochran had five of Wofford’s eight rebounds.
William & Mary pushed the lead to as many as 14 through the first part of the second half. Sophomore Jaylen Allen helped chop it down to seven with the first four points of a 7-0 run, but the Tribe responded with the next six to build it back to 59-46 with 7:02 to play.
The Terriers weren’t done yet. Trailing by 10, they scored eight straight to suddenly make it a one-possession game for the first time since William & Mary’s first basket of the night.
Prewitt hit the Tribe’s final basket with 2:30 left to help build the lead back to five. Garcia’s three made it a two-point game once more in the final minute, before Cochran’s potential game-tying shot barely missed and the Tribe hung on.
Kennesaw State 77, Chattanooga 69
KENNESAW, Ga. - The Chattanooga Mocs could not keep Kennesaw State off the foul line in a 77-69 loss Saturday afternoon in the KSU Convocation Center. The Owls shot 44 free throws making 34 (77.2%) to claim the win.
Casey Jones led the Mocs with 22 points on the day. Yonel Brown paced the hosts with a career-high 32 points with 18 coming on 21 attempts from the free throw line.
The Owls jumped out to an 18-6 advantage. Bernard Morena made the second of two free throws with 10:15 to go in the half to provide the advantage. It was all Mocs from there.
Jones ended a six-plus minute cold stretch for the Mocs with a basket at 8:24. Tre’ McLean scored back-to-back buckets, the latter a three-ball at 7:08. Chattanooga closed the half with a 20-8 run for a 26-26 halftime score.
Brown was the difference for the Owls after intermission. He scored 27 in the final 20 minutes with 13 coming at the charity stripe. He had 18 of the 27 in the first 10 minutes leading KSU to a 53-39 lead on a basket at 10:13.
The Owls scored their next 10 at the free throw line. Chattanooga was down 14, 72-58, late when it mounted a brief charge. Ronrico White drilled a three-pointer at 1:44. Chuck Ester added a bucket at 1:23 to cut it to 10, 72-62. Greg Pryor got it to within eight with a three-pointer from top right, but it was not enough this day.
Pacific 55, Mercer 48
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The Mercer men’s basketball team found itself in a one-possession game with less than a minute to play for the third-straight night on Saturday at the Great Alaska Shootout before falling to Pacific, 55-48.
Pacific improved to 4-3 and earned third place in the tournament with the win, while Mercer fell to 3-4 and finished fifth.
Mercer, playing its fourth game away from home in a six-day span, lost consecutive games for the first time in over two years. Junior guard Ike Nwamu led the Bears with 14 points while senior T.J. Hallice netted 11.
After trailing 26-19 at halftime, the Bears roared out of intermission as Jibri Bryan drilled a 3-pointer to spark a 7-0 run that tied the game with 16:23 to play. Pacific built its lead back to six at the 12:39 juncture when junior reserve Jestin Lewis nailed two 3’s in 30 seconds to tie the game once again and ignite the Mercer bench.
Pacific scored on the next possession to go back ahead, and from there the Tigers’ lead would go no higher than four before the final minute of play. With 1:43 on the clock, Mercer trailed 51-46 when Darious Moten found Hallice on under the basket for a layup that got the Bears within two.
On the other end, a superb defensive effort left Pacific’s Dulani Robinson 30 feet from the basket as the shot clock wound down. Robinson was forced to hoist a wild shot with two defenders in his face, but the ball banked home for a 51-46 Tigers’ lead with 53 seconds left.
The shot proved to be the play of the game, as the Tigers were able to get a stop on the next possession and ultimately prevail by the seven-point margin.
Nwamu’s third-straight game in double figures also featured three rebounds and three steals. Hallice scored his 11 points on 5-of-12 shooting while grabbing five rebounds.
Moten led mercer with six rebounds to go along with six points, while Lewis finished with a season-high seven points in seven minutes of action. Junior Phillip Leonard totaled five points, six assists and a rebound in the loss.