Davidson 88, Georgia Southern 73
STATESBORO, Ga. – Sophomore Brian Sullivan scored 25 points and Davidson shot 55.4 percent, including 11 triples, as the Wildcats ran their winning streak to eight straight with an 88-73 win over Georgia Southern Saturday afternoon at Hanner Fieldhouse.
Sullivan, who hit the 20-point plateau for the sixth time this season, finished 10-of-15 from the floor, including five 3-pointers in 36 minutes. Tom Droney added 14 points, De’Mon Brooks had 13 and Chris Czerapowicz scored 11 to go along with a game-high eight rebounds for Davidson.
The Eagles’ Jelani Hewitt led all players with 32 points, including 21 after intermission, while going 11-of-17 from the field and making six buckets from long range. Brian Holmes and Tre Bussey also contributed double figures for Georgia Southern (11-16, 4-8 SoCon) with 11 and 10, respectively.
After Hewitt reeled off eight straight to cut the Eagles’ deficit to 49-44, Sullivan and Jack Gibbs answered with consecutive treys for Davidson (15-11, 11-1 SoCon), which eventually stretched its lead to as many as 19, 87-68, with 11 unanswered.
In addition to hitting 10 or more 3-pointers in three straight contests, the Wildcats finished with a 33-29 edge on the glass, while committing just seven turnovers.
Along with making its last 10 shots of the period, Davidson closed the first half on a 12-3 spurt capped off by a Droney layup at the buzzer to take a 45-32 advantage into the break.
Georgia Southern finished at 50 percent overall and from behind the arc, but made just 15-of-25 at the charity stripe.
Furman 76, The Citadel 67
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Stephen Croone turned in his thirteenth 20-point performance of the season to power the Paladins by The Citadel, 76-67, in Southern Conference men’s basketball action on Saturday in front of 1,277 fans at Timmons Arena in Greenville, S.C.
Croone led the Paladins with 23 points, while adding five rebounds and four assists. Charlie Reddick turned in his first double-double of the season, finishing with 11 points and 10 rebounds, including a team-high seven rebounds in the first half. William Gates finished with 12 points, while Adonis Rwabigwi added 11 points and a season-high-tying four blocks.
The Paladins (8-17, 2-10 SoCon) shot 47.2 percent from the floor, while holding The Citadel (4-23, 0-12 SoCon) to a 37.5 shooting percentage. Both teams shot greater than 75 percent from the free-throw line, but it was the Paladins who finished the night with a higher free-throw total (19 of 25).
Furman jumped out to an early 24-8 lead over the Bulldogs, before the Citadel went on a 13-5 run of their own to cut the lead to 29-17 with 4:48 remaining in the first half. The Paladins hit five of six free throws at the end of the half to stretch their lead to 11 at the break. William Gates stopped any chance of the Citadel coming out of halftime with the momentum, as he stuffed Marshall Harris III’s three-point attempt as time expired.
Furman opened up a sixteen-point lead over the Citadel with 16:01 remaining in the second half on a Reddick steal and breakaway layup to put the score at 48-32. The Paladins continued to hold off the Citadel rally, holding the lead at 13 (58-45) with 8:25 remaining. The Bulldogs then used a 10-4 run to cut the Furman lead to just five with 4:50 remaining in the game. The two teams traded baskets before The Citadel’s Ashton Moore hit his second three of the half to cut the Furman lead to four at 69-65 with 1:43 remaining. However, Stephen Croone scored five-straight points to give the Paladins a nine-point advantage with 18 seconds on the clock. Following a timeout, William Gates hit two free throws and Rwabigwi recorded his fourth block of the game to seal the victory for the Paladins, 76-67.
The Bulldogs were led by Ashton Moore with 22 points and six rebounds, and PJ Horgan with six points and 10 rebounds.
Wofford 64, Appalachian State 58
BOONE, N.C. – The Wofford men’s basketball team picked up a 64-58 win over Appalachian State on Saturday afternoon at the Holmes Center. The Mountaineers closed the first half with a 7-0 run to take a 36-31 lead at the break. The Terrier defense came to play in the second half as Wofford outscored the Mountaineers by eleven for the victory.
Wofford is 15-10 on the season and 9-3 in the Southern Conference to sit in third place in the standings. It was the eighth straight win for the Terriers, who are also 5-1 on the road in SoCon play. Appalachian State is 8-17 overall and 4-8 in league play. Wofford was led by Lee Skinner with 17 points and nine rebounds, while Spencer Collins added 12 points. The Mountaineers were led by Tevin Baskins with 13 points.
The Mountaineers scored first, but a bucket and a pair of free throws by Lee Skinner gave Wofford a 4-2 lead two minutes into play. A Karl Cochran jumper was answered by a pair of Appalachian State free throws for a 6-6 game at the 15:51 mark. The score was tied at eight and ten, before Karl Cochran hit a three pointer for a 13-12 Terrier lead with 12:25 on the clock. Appalachian State led 16-14 before a free throw and dunk by Karl Cochran gave Wofford a 17-16 advantage with nine minutes to play in the half. A dunk by C.J. Neumann made it a 19-16 game a minute later.
Wofford took a 21-18 lead on a shot by Spencer Collins, but the Mountaineers tied it at 21 with six minutes left in the half. Justin Gordon had four straight points for the Terriers for a 27-25 lead with 3:52 on the clock. Four straight points by the Mountaineers gave them a 29-27 advantage. A put-back by C.J. Neumann along with a pair of free throws by Spencer Collins made it a 31-29 lead with 1:54 remaining in the half. Appalachian State answered with four straight for a 33-31 advantage with 46 seconds on the clock. A three pointer at the buzzer by Tad Hamilton gave the Mountaineers a 36-31 lead that the half.
The Terriers opened the second half with a shot by Lee Skinner. Appalachian State held a 40-35 lead after four minutes of play. A shot by Spencer Collins cut it to a three-point game. A bucket by C.J. Neumann and a three by John Swinton gave Wofford a 42-40 lead with 11:45 on the clock. Appalachian State ended the 7-0 run with a pair of free throws to tie the game at 42. After a tie at 44, C.J. Neumann had a bucket and Eric Garcia drained a three for a 49-44 lead with eight minutes remaining.
Lee Skinner added two free throws as Wofford had a 51-46 lead with 7:20 left in the second half. A jumper by Lee Skinner pushed the lead to 54-48 a minute later. Justin Gordon had a couple tries under the basket before putting one in for a 56-49 advantage with 5:10 on the clock. The Mountaineers cut the lead to 57-53 with 3:29 remaining. A three pointed by Tab Hamilton with 1:57 left made it a 58-56 game. Lee Skinner put back a missed shot for a 60-56 lead with 86 seconds remaining. After the Mountaineers made it a two-point game, Spencer Collins hit a fade-away jumper for a 62-58 score with 34 seconds left. The Mountaineers missed on their next possession and Wofford had the rebound. Spencer Collins added two free throws with 15 on the clock to provide the final 64-58 margin of victory.
Wofford shot 45.3 percent from the floor and Appalachian State was 51.4 percent overall. The Terriers were 3-of-8 from with three, while the Mountaineers were 2-of-4 from behind the arc. Appalachian State was 18-of-26 from the line while Wofford was 13-of-21 on free throws. The Terriers had a 30 to 24 lead on the glass. The Mountaineers had 16 turnovers and Wofford had 21 points off those turnovers. The Terriers had 14 assists and only ten turnovers in the game. There were 9 lead changes and 14 ties in the contest. Justin Gordon fouled out with 3:29 left in the game.
Elon 86, Samford 69
ELON, N.C. – Five players scored in double figures to lead the Elon men’s basketball team to an 86-69 victory over the visiting Samford Bulldogs on Saturday night, Feb. 15, inside a sold out Alumni Gym.
Winners of five straight, Elon improves to 15-11 (8-3 Southern Conference) with the win.
Lucas Troutman notched his eighth career double-double with 16 points and 10 boards to pace the maroon and gold. Troutman also registered three blocked shots, putting him at 200 in his career. Troutman also moved ahead of former Davidson standout forward Jake Cohen for seventh all-time in Southern Conference history in career blocks.
Three-point snipers Sebastian Koch and Jack Isenbarger added 17 points apiece for Elon, knocking down a combined 6-of-14 from long range. As a team, the Phoenix ended the night 10-of-22 from three, marking the 10th time this season the team has connected on 10 or more triples in a game.
Kevin Blake added 10 points for Elon on 4-of-7 shooting, including a pair of monster dunks. Elon is now 5-0 with Blake in the starting lineup this season.
As a team, the Phoenix shot 53 percent (31-of-58) from the field, marking the 11th time this year the team has shot 50 percent or better in a game (10-1 in those games).
Both squads took care of the ball in the game, as the Bulldogs held a slim 7-6 edge in the turnover battle. Elon outrebounded Samford 35-30 in the win, improving to 9-2 when it outrebounds the opposition.
The Phoenix played well at both ends of the floor to carry an 11-point lead, 43-32, into the locker room at intermission. Elon knocked down 50 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes and limited Samford to 39 percent shooting to take a double-digit lead.
Samford was forced to call a timeout with 11:24 left in the second half after Beaumont reeled off five straight Phoenix points to put his team up 63-54. Beaumont connected on a triple from the top of the key and scored on an easy layup to give Elon momentum and put the Alumni Gym faithful on their feet.
Williams managed to cut Elon’s lead to five with 7:50 to play after tripling from the wing to make it a 66-61 game, but the Phoenix put its foot on the gas from that point forward, surging with a 12-4 run to take a 78-65 lead with less than four minutes to play.