Western Carolina 83, Furman 75
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Trey Sumler and Brandon Boggs combined for 32 second half points as Western Carolina held on to edge Furman, 83-75, in Southern Conference men's basketball action on Monday night at the Ramsey Center in Cullowhee, N.C.
With Furman (7-17, 1-10 SoCon) leading 34-33 to begin the second half, Sumler buried three straight treys to ignite a 9-2 Catamount run that gave WCU a 42-36 advantage with 17:30 to play. Larry Wideman sliced the deficit to 52-48 with 12 minutes to play before Boggs, who had gone scoreless in the first half, netted Western Carolina's next 10 points in a 10-4 spurt to open up a 62-52 lead with 8:53 remaining.
A Boggs' trey with 5:01 left extended the Catamounts' advantage to 73-62, but sophomore Stephen Croone helped Furman mount a late rally. Wideman opened the 9-0 run with back-to-back jumpers and Croone connected on 5-of-6 free throw attempts to trim the margin to 73-71 with 2:17 to play.
James Sinclair, however, answered for the Catamounts with a three-point play and Western Carolina (14-11, 7-3 SoCon) held Furman to just one field goal over the final 3:51 to hold for an eight-point victory.
Sumler netted 24 points on 10-of-23 shooting to lead five Catamounts in double figures. Boggs scored 15 points while Tawaski King and Tom Tankelewicz totaled 13 and 10 points, respectively. Sinclair finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
The Catamounts shot 55.2 percent in the second half and netted 22 points off of 15 Furman turnovers on the night.
Croone paced Furman with 27 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor and 12-of-18 at the foul line. Adonis Rwabigwi posted a career night with 17 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots. Kendrec Ferrara rounded out the Paladins' double digit scorers with 12 points and seven boards.
Coach Niko Medved's club shot 47.1 percent from the field and made 25-of-33 free throw attempts.
Wofford 95, Hiwassee 60
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Led by a career-high 18 points from sophomore Justin Gordon, the Wofford men’s basketball team earned its seventh consecutive victory by defeating Hiwassee College, 95-60, Monday evening in non-conference action inside Benjamin Johnson Arena.
Gordon was a perfect 8-of-8 shooting and also contributed with five rebounds, three assists and two steals. He was joined in double figures with 14 points apiece from junior Karl Cochran and sophomore Spencer Collins. Cochran added five assists, five boards and three steals.
It was a feel-good night as all 13 Terriers found the scoring column. It included the first basket of freshman Jeremiah Tate’s career. Tate also added a pair of assists and Sophomore Zach Korkowski set a new career-high with six points.
The Terriers shot 59.4 percent, including a 40-percent showing from long range. Wofford dominated the paint, 52-16, and had an 18-1 edge in second-chance points thanks to outrebounding the Tigers 33-20.
The win improves Wofford to 14-10 overall, while Hiwassee falls to 5-17 with the loss. The Terriers have won 11 of their last 14 contests.
Junior Lee Skinner got the game off to a quick start with a dunk off the opening tip. He then blocked LaZerick Boyd’s 3-point attempt on Hiwassee’s first possession. Skinner would finish the game with nine points.
The Tigers posed a threat through the early portions. David Layne and Tyler Johnson each hit threes to give Hiwassee a 6-4 lead at the 17-minute mark, but Wofford was connecting as well and started the game 4-of-6 from the field. A Collins trey followed by baskets from Skinner and Cochran put the Terriers ahead by three, 15-12.
Hiwassee made a run and scored seven straight to grab its biggest lead of the night, 19-15.
It was all Wofford from there as Hiwassee’s hot shooting cooled off and Wofford dominated the glass to grab a big lead. Collins got fouled and earned three points the old-fashioned way to give the Terriers the lead back, and Skinner was good on the fast break to put Wofford up 26-20 at the 6:35 mark, forcing Hiwassee’s first timeout.
The Terriers did not cool off. Gordon hit a running jump-hook in the paint and Cochran scorched the nets for five straight points to complete an 18-1 Wofford run, ahead 33-20.
Johnson ended Hiwassee’s drought of 7:58 seconds without a basket at the 3:45 mark – he led all Tigers with 16 points – but Gordon responded inside to keep the Terriers up plenty. Garcia then found Gordon with an alley-oop slam with two minutes to go in the half, and the Terriers went into the locker rooms ahead 45-23, outscoring Hiwassee 28-6 through the final 10:57.
Collins led all Terriers with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting at the half. As a team, Wofford was shooting nearly 56 percent (19-34 FG), with both Cochran and Gordon at nine points and Skinner with eight. Gordon was perfect from the field on his four shots. Hiwassee was shooting 10-of-19, but the Terriers denied any second chances with a 17-8 edge on the glass.
Gordon kept his perfect shooting night alive and was good on his first four shots in the first six minutes. Neumann looked good inside and hit a basket while drawing a foul to get the Terriers to 70 points with 11:21 to play. He went on to complete the evening with five points and two boards.
Wofford then went up 30 for the first time at the 10:23 mark, 75-45, on two made free throws by Collins.
Head coach Mike Young emptied the bench with 9:03 to play as sophomore Zach Korkowski, freshman Jeremiah Tate and freshman Eric Wagenlander all entered the game. Korkowski hit a pair of free throws at the 8:17 mark and buried a jumper with under four minutes to play en route to his new career-high. Tate also got in on the action, sinking his first collegiate basket with a jumper from the elbow at the 4:04 mark. Zac Grossenbacher then drained a triple with 1:57 to play and Waggenlander followed suit with his first collegiate basket, hitting a trey from the left baseline with 1:38 remaining.