Western Carolina 78, The Citadel 70
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – The Western Carolina men’s basketball team opened up the New Year with a 78-70 victory over The Citadel inside the Ramsey Center Saturday afternoon. The Catamounts used a tenacious defense to pull away from the Bulldogs as WCU forced 19 turnovers on the day and picked up eight steals. All five of the Catamount starters reached double-figures led by senior James Sinclair’s 22 points. Sinclair also led the team with four assists.
Junior Rhett Harrelson added 15 points while knocking down a pair of triples. Junior Justin Browning also had 15 points and led the team with three steals. Browning was 5-7 from the field and 4-4 at the free throw line. Junior Torrion Brummitt had 14 points and tied for the team high in rebounds with five. Junior Mike Brown also had five rebounds, all of which came on the offensive end. He was the final double-digit scorer as well with 10 points.
The Catamounts used a 22-8 advantage in points off turnovers to pull away early in the second half but the Bulldogs came back late to make it a contest.
The win is the third-straight for the Catamounts and improves their record to 6-8 overall and 1-1 in the Southern Conference. The Bulldogs are now 5-8 overall and 0-2 in league play.
After an opening jumper by Harrelson, the Bulldogs took the early advantage after WCU suffered back-to-back empty possessions. Harrelson came through with a 3-pointer at the 17:59 mark to cut The Citadel’s lead to just one but a quick 4-0 run opened up five point lead for the Bulldogs. Brummitt converted a layup on the offensive end and then picked up a steal on the defensive end that led to a pair of Sinclair free throws which cut the lead back to one. WCU would eventually take its second lead of the game at the 14:30 mark as Harrelson connected on his second three of the contest to put the Catamounts ahead 15-14.
The Citadel answered with a three but WCU responded with six-straight points. The Catamounts held onto the lead till the 6:43 mark when a jumper put the Bulldogs up by two. WCU once again answered with six-straight points to retake the lead which it would not relinquish the rest of the game. The Bulldogs were able to cut WCU’s lead to just one at the halftime break, 37-36.
The Catamounts opened the second half with a 14-2 run that featured eight points from Browning. He hit a layup to open the half, then converted an old-fashion three-point play before finishing the effort with a regular 3-pointer. WCU would lead by double-figures for most of the second half but a 7-0 run by the Bulldogs late in the period cut WCU’s lead to just three with 34 seconds left. The Catamounts went 6-6 from the charity stripe in the final 30 seconds to seal the victory, 78-70.
The Citadel was led by P.J. Horgan who had 21 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Ashton Moore chipped in 17 points as well. Jake Wright (14) was the third Bulldog to score in double figures.
Wofford 68, Samford 65
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Against the defending Southern Conference Tournament champions and the favorite to win the 2014-15 league title, the Samford University basketball team charged late to nearly upend the Wofford Terriers, 68-65, on Saturday in a key conference showdown held at the Pete Hanna Center.
Down by 13 points, 61-48, with 2:51 remaining to play, Samford (7-9, 0-3 SoCon) rallied to within 65-61 at the nine-second mark and later connected on a deep 3-point basket at the buzzer to make the final score 68-65.
The Bulldogs’ Christen Cunningham drained the team’s final 3-pointer and proved to be the key factor in Samford’s second-half resurgence.
Cunningham, the Bulldogs’ dynamic true freshman point guard from Georgetown, Kentucky, scored nine of his game-high 20 points in the final two minutes and turned in a perfect 5-of-5 performance from the charity stripe. He also grabbed three rebounds, handed out two assists and tallied a pair of steals.
Wofford (10-4, 1-0 SoCon), which is the nation’s No. 39-ranked team in the RPI, extended its winning streak against the Bulldogs to three straight games. The Terriers also improved to 9-4 all-time versus Samford.
The Bulldogs led by as many as six points Saturday behind a strong first-half performance from junior guard Darius Jones-Gibson. With a game-high eight points at the intermission, Jones-Gibson finished a perfect 3-for-3 from the floor in the opening period as Samford trailed Wofford, 25-24, heading into the locker room.
The Terriers closed out the first half with a 9-2 run, and then opened the second stanza on a 13-5 streak to take a 38-29 advantage with 14:41 remaining to play.
In sparking Samford’s late rally, Jones-Gibson scored four points, Michael Bradley added a pair of free throws and Evan Taylor drained a key 10-foot jumper. The Bulldogs kept trimming Wofford’s lead down to five points, but the Terriers’ Karl Cochran, Eric Garcia and Jaylen Allen continued to make their free throws down the stretch.
Samford’s loss Saturday snapped its four-game winning streak. The Bulldogs’ hard-fought, physical three-point setback proved to be their first loss since falling at Wake Forest on Dec. 14.
On Monday, Samford will return to action with a pivotal SoCon home game against ETSU at 7 p.m. Wofford will also be in action Monday night at Chattanooga.
The Terriers’ leading scorers Saturday were Cochran (15), Garcia (14) and Spencer Collins (10).
Samford received 30 of its 65 points from the bench and was paced by Cunningham’s 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field. Jones-Gibson followed with 15 points, four rebounds and two assists, while Bradley came off the bench to drop in 10 points and pull down five rebounds.
The Bulldogs’ Marcus Johnson also added eight points and Taylor chipped in with five.
Wofford ended up shooting 46.8 percent from the field Saturday, but was only 4-of-14 from 3-point range. Samford finished with a 41.5 shooting percentage from the floor and connected on six 3-point field goals.
The Bulldogs out-rebounded Wofford, 35-32, but only forced the Terriers into nine turnovers.
Mercer 76, UNCG 55
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG men’s basketball team fell to 1-1 in Southern Conference play Saturday as the Spartans suffered a 76-55 loss to league newcomer and 2014 NCAA Tournament participant Mercer at the Greensboro Coliseum.
The Spartans’ defense was unable to corral the Bears as Mercer connected on 52.1 percent (25-of-48) from the field and hit 11-of-20 from long range. Mercer also took advantage of 13 UNCG miscues turning them into 21 points. UNCG was solid offensively hitting 47.1 percent (24-of-51) from the field and out-scoring the Bears 36-22 in the paint. The Spartans were held in check from the perimeter though as they hit just 2-of-7 despite entering the game averaging 7.0 made 3-pointers per game.
Sophomore guard Tevon Saddler led three Spartans in double figures with a game-high 20 points while also grabbing six rebounds and notching four steals. Saddler finished the night shooting 9-of-18 from the field for his fourth game this season with at least 20 points. Junior forward Kayel Locke added 14 points and five rebounds as he was 7-of-11 from the field, scoring 10 points after the break.
Ike Nwamu led the Bears with 15 points, 13 in the second half as he was 4-of-10 from the field, including three 3-pointers. Jibri Bryan posted a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds while Darious Moten added 14 points for Mercer.
Mercer (7-8, 2-9 SoCon) came out of the gate quickly, scoring the first 10 points of the game as the Spartans misfired on their first six shots from the field. Bryan scored five early in the fast start, including a 3-pointer from the corner. The Spartans started to settle in and slowly chipped away at the deficit, posting an 8-3 run to make it a 13-8 contest. Locke scored in the paint while Saddler scored on consecutive possessions.
The Spartans (5-10, 1-1 SoCon) pulled within one at 18-17 as senior Nicholas Paulos got his lone look of the half and buried a 3-pointer. UNCG came all the way back and tied the game at 23-23 when Saddler hit one of two free throws but Mercer closed the half on a 10-2 run to take a 33-25 lead into the locker room.
The Spartans connected on 41.7 percent (10-of-24) from the field but hit just 1-of-3 from long range. Mercer hit a similar percentage from the field in the first half at 43.5 percent (10-of-23) but connected on 5-of-10 from long range. Saddler led UNCG with nine points while sophomore Diante Baldwin added seven points.
Redshirt sophomore center R.J. White was limited to just two points as he only played four first half minutes due to foul trouble. Moten led Mercer with nine points while Bryan added eight points and seven rebounds.
The Spartans came out of the halftime break and traded baskets back and forth before narrowing the gap to six points at 39-33 as Saddler scored on a drive. Mercer kept increasing its lead though, posting a 20-10 run to extend the advantage to 69-43 with 11:54 remaining. Nwamu did the damage as he scored 13 points during the run, including hitting three 3-pointers.
The Spartans had one final push, narrowing the gap to 61-48 as Saddler again got into the paint, but Mercer closed the door with nine straight points as Stephon Jelks came off the bench and score seven points in the spurt.
Baldwin rounded out the Spartans in double figures with 12 points as he was 4-of-5 from the field and 3-of-4 from the free throw line. White was limited to just four points as he played only 17 minutes due to foul trouble while Paulos was held to five points on just three field goal attempts.
Chattanooga 72, Furman 60
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- Casey Jones scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to pace four Mocs in double figures as Chattanooga downed Furman, 72-60, in Southern Conference men’s basketball action on Saturday night at McKenzie Arena.
Leading 36-32 at intermission, the Mocs netted 17 points off of 11 second-half Paladin turnovers to push their lead to as many as 15 points en route to the 12-point win. Chattanooga scored the first six points of the second period to up its margin to 10 points and answered a Furman rally with an 11-3 run from the 14-minute mark to the 8:38 mark to up the margin to 55-41.
Jones hit 8-of-12 shots from the floor and connected on all four of his trips to the foul line on the night to score a game-high 20 points, including 12 in the second half. Justin Tuoyo netted 14 points to go with four blocked shots and Ronrico White and Greg Pryor added 12 points apiece for the Mocs. Chattanooga shot 49 percent from the field, tallied 25 points off turnovers and finished with a 31-25 rebounding edge.
Furman trailed 10-1 in the opening minutes before Stephen Croone capped a 20-10 Paladin run with a three-point play at the 8:06 mark to put Furman in front 21-20. Chattanooga outscored the Paladins 16-8 before Furman’s Daniel Fowler hit a trey at the buzzer for the 36-32 halftime margin.
Croone converted on 11-of-13 trips to the foul line to lead Furman with 18 points. Kendrec Ferrara added 13 points and six rebounds. Furman shot 44.4 percent from the field, but made just 3-of-10 three-point attempts.