Georgia Southern 62, Chattanooga 55
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The seventh-seeded Georgia Southern Eagles won their second tournament game in as many days, upsetting the No. 2 Chattanooga Mocs, 62-55, to advance to the semifinals of the 2014 Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament. The Eagles (16-18) advance to Sunday night's semifinal. Chattanooga’s tournament bid comes to an end with a record of 18-14.
Georgia Southern quickly erased a 27-24 halftime deficit to tie the game with 18:53 to go. A Ronrico White old-fashioned three-point play capped a 9-2 Chattanooga spurt to put the Mocs back on top, 38-29, at the 14:20 mark. The Eagles responded, capitalizing off turnovers and empty Chattanooga possessions to score nine unanswered and knot the game once again. The Chattanooga scoring drought spanned nearly five minutes.
Z. Mason, who netted a game-high 21 points and snatched nine rebounds, gave the Mocs a bit of life with back-to-back three balls to shift the lead back to Chattanooga, 44-41, with 8:35 remaining. The game remained tight as the Mocs desperately tried to hang on to a skimpy lead. With under six minutes to play, Eagles’ forward Marvin Baynham scored six straight, converting his offensive rebounds into a GSU 49-46 lead, an advantage it would never relinquish. Georgia Southern turned up its defense and made free throws down the stretch — the Eagles shot 12-of-14 from the stripe in the second half — to keep its season alive.
The teams had nearly identical box scores; they each shot just over 42 percent from the floor, 20 percent from long range, and 68 percent from charity stripe. GSU took advantage of an extra nine trips to the line with the freebies proving the difference in the final tally.
Georgia Southern had three scorers in double figures, led by Tre Bussey’s 17 points. Jelani Hewitt added 12 points and although Brian Holmes didn’t have a field goal, the guard netted 10-of-13 from the line in the win. Baynham pulled down a team-best eight rebounds, including five on the offensive glass.
Mocs’ guard Gee McGhee grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds and Casey Jones joined Mason in double figures with 12 points. Chattanooga held a slight 32-30 edge on the boards while GSU took advantage of 14 Mocs’ turnovers.
The lead changed hands only once and neither team ever led by more than nine points.
Wofford 68, The Citadel 51
ASHEVILLE, N.C. --- No. 3 seed Wofford (18-12) fought off a pesky No. 11 Citadel Bulldogs (7-26) crew for a 68-51 win in the final quarterfinal game of the 9th Southern Conference Championship. The Terriers broke open a close contest late.
It was a five-point affair with 6:50 to go after two Matt Van Scyoc free throws got the Bulldogs to within 50-45. Wofford responded with a 12-2 run to take control of the contest.
Karl Cochran and Eric Garcia traded scores to tally all 12 points in the spurt. Cochran’s three-point play at 2:39 capped the run and gave Wofford a 62-47 advantage and ended the Bulldogs upset hopes.
Cochran and Garcia combined for 41 points with 22 and 19, respectively. Cochran added a game-high seven rebounds and three assists. Ashton Moore’s game-high 24 points led the Bulldogs.
The Terriers tangle with Georgia Southern in the 8:30 p.m., semifinal tilt Sunday night in ExploreAsheville.com Arena inside the U.S. Cellular Center. It airs on CSS and ESPN3.com.