Furman 71, UNCG 64
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Freshman Devin Sibley poured in a career-high 21 points, all in the second half, to rally Furman from a 14-point deficit as the Paladins downed UNCG, 71-64, in Southern Conference men’s basketball action on Thursday night at Timmons Arena.
The win, Furman’s third straight at home, improved the Paladins to 4-10 overall and 2-2 in the SoCon, while the Spartans slipped to 5-12 overall and 1-3 in the league.
With UNCG leading 47-33 and under 14:30 remaining, Sibley put the Paladins on his back during a crucial second half run. The Knoxville, Tenn., native opened a 22-8 spurt with a three-pointer and scored 13 points during the rally, capped by a wild driving layup to tie the game at 55-55 with 6:48 to play.
UNCG regained a two-point lead on RJ White’s layup before Sibley drained a pair of free throws with 5:05 left to even the game once again. The Spartans’ Tevon Saddler missed two shots on UNCG’s next possession and picked up a technical foul following Kris Acox’s defensive rebound. Geoff Beans sank both foul shots and Stephen Croone buried a three-pointer from the right wing to stake Furman to a 62-57 lead with 4:09 remaining on the five-point possession.
The Paladins defense, which held the Spartans to 32.4 percent shooting in the second half, limited UNCG to just two field goals over the final 5:30 and Furman made 7-of-8 free throw attempts in the final two minutes to secure the victory.
Sibley connected on 5-of-9 shots from the floor and 9-of-13 free throws to net his career-high 21 points. Beans scored 15 points on the strength of a 7-for-8 effort at the foul line, while Acox posted a double-double with 11 points and career-best 13 rebounds. Croone, who has scored in double figures in 41 of his last 43 games added 10 points and five assists.
The Paladins shot 42.6 percent, including 52.4 percent in the second half, and converted on 24-of-32 trips to the charity stripe.
UNCG shot 55.6 percent in the first half to race out to a 34-25 lead at intermission and started the second period on a 7-2 run to up the margin to 14 points with over 17:30 to play. After hitting four of their first five second half shots, however, the Spartans made just eight of their final 32 attempts to shoot 42.2 percent for the game.
Kayel Locke led UNCG with 16 points on 8-of-18 shooting and Saddler added 14 points and a team-best nine rebounds. White rounded out UNCG’s double figure scorers with 11 points.
Chattanooga 66, Western Carolina 60
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Western Carolina University men’s basketball team fell for the first time in 2015 on the road at Chattanooga Thursday night. The Mocs took advantage of a 33-18 edge in free throws to down the Catamounts 66-60.
Senior James Sinclair led the Catamounts with 18 points. Junior Mike Brown chipped in 14 points while junior Torrion Brummitt added 12 points, a team-high eight rebounds and three blocks. Junior Rhett Harrelson had eight points, three assists and three steals. Brown, Sinclair, Harrelson and junior Justin Browning all had four rebounds.
The Catamounts shot just 35.5 percent from the field that included a 8-34 performance in the first half. The Mocs shot 45.2 percent from the field including 52.2 percent in the first half when they built a nine-point lead.
The Mocs defense came up with 15 blocked shots and forced 11 WCU turnovers. WCU turned in a strong defensive effort as well as the Mocs turned the ball over 16 times. Both teams struggled from long range as both the Catamounts and Mocs went 3-13 from downtown.
Chattanooga jumped out to a 12-6 lead over the opening three minutes but the Catamounts quickly cut the lead to one after a Harrelson three and a Brummitt layup. The first half would remain close most of the period. Trailing 21-20, the Mocs closed out the first half on a 13-3 run that spanned the final seven minutes of the period.
The Catamounts opened the second half with an 11-4 run to cut the Mocs lead to just two. UTC quickly answered with four-straight points but WCU kept it close until a 7-0 run with just over five minutes to play opened up a 10-point advantage for the Mocs. The Catamounts were unable to close the gap as time expired giving Chattanooga a 66-60 victory.
The Mocs were led by Casey Jones who had 18 points and 13 rebounds while Justin Tuoyo added 15 points and a game-high nine blocks.
Wofford 75, VMI 70
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Wofford scored the game’s final seven points to grab a late lead and held off VMI, 75-70, Thursday night at Benjamin Johnson Arena.
VMI senior Q.J. Peterson put the Keydets in front 70-68 by connecting on two free throws with 1:49 left. Another senior responded, as Wofford’s Karl Cochran came down the floor and hit a go-ahead 3-pointer from the left wing.
For the second time this season, a late replay review went in favor of the Terriers. VMI had possession down one when a steal attempt by Cochran forced the ball out of bounds. Officials initially ruled that the ball would stay with VMI, but went to the monitors with 43.1 to go.
After looking at the play for three minutes, head official Jeremy Mosier overturned the call on the floor to grant the Terriers the basketball. Senior John Swinton then hit two at the foul line and played great defense on Peterson’s potential game-tying three in the final seconds. The shot glanced off the rim and was rebounded by junior C.J. Neumann, who was fouled and iced away a 3-0 SoCon start for the Terriers.
VMI (5-11, 1-4 SoCon) entered the contest leading the nation in 3-pointers per game (12.1), also averaging an NCAA-best 38 attempts. Wofford (12-4, 3-0 SoCon) took care of the arc, limiting the Keydets to 4-of-22 – VMI’s lowest output of both makes and attempts this season.
Cochran led a group of four Terriers that finished in double figures. The senior guard, coming off a career-high 33 points in Monday’s win at Chattanooga, scored 11 of his team-high 19 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the final eight minutes. The last was the triple that put Wofford ahead for good with 1:31 remaining, finishing the night 7-of-16 from the floor and 3-of-8 from deep, adding five rebounds, three blocks, two steals and two assists.
Another big contributor was Neumann, who scored a career-high 12 points on 4-of-5 from the field to go with six rebounds. The 6-foot-7 forward is now averaging 6.7 points and 6.3 rebounds over his last three games.
Senior Lee Skinner added 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds, while sophomore Eric Garcia had 11 points, two assists and a steal in just 13 minutes.
For the Keydets, junior Phillip Anglade had a career-high 22 points, season-high seven blocks and game-high eight rebounds. He shot 11-of-13 from the field to head a trio of Keydets in double figures. Sophomore Q.J. Peterson had 19 points, but was just 1-of-7 from three, and Tim Marshall finished with 16.
Wofford outshot the Keydets 47.3 percent to 41.3 percent. Both teams made exactly 26 field goals, but the Terriers did it with eight less shot attempts. Wofford was also 7-of-18 from three and marked 80 percent on 16-of-20 from the charity stripe.
ETSU 71, Mercer 70
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Leading by 13 points with seven minutes left in regulation, the ETSU men’s basketball team held on as a frantic Mercer rally ended when a last-second shot by the Bears’ Darious Moten missed the mark, giving the Buccaneers a 71-70 win in Southern Conference play Thursday evening inside Freedom Hall.
With the victory, the Bucs snapped a five-game losing streak to Mercer dating back to the 2011-12 season, and improved to 9-4 overall, 4-1 in SoCon play. Meanwhile, Mercer drops to 8-9, 3-1.
For the game, the Bucs were led by a game-high 22 points from senior guard Jalen Riley, while fellow senior guard Rashawn Rembert finished with 17 and junior forward Lester Wilson had 14.
The first half was highly entertaining, with both teams playing well on the offensive end of the floor. Mercer finished the half shooting 56 percent from the field, while ETSU committed just two turnovers and shot 43 percent from 3-point range. On the scoreboard, the Bucs led for the first 10 minutes, but Mercer used a 7-0 run midway through the half to take a 17-16 advantage.
Mercer led the rest of the first half, but the Bucs closed the first 20 minutes with a defensive stop and then four straight offensive rebounds on one possession, which ended when sophomore guard Devin Harris hit a layup at the buzzer. That score made it 36-34 at the intermission.
The Bucs’ perimeter trio of Rembert, Wilson and Riley powered a 14-0 offensive run to open the second half, as each hit from beyond the arc and Riley netted eight of those 14 points to make it 48-38 with just 16 minutes left in regulation. ETSU’s lead grew to as many as 13 on three different occasions in the second half, but with 3:25 left in the game a layup by Mercer’s Jordan Strawberry capped an 8-3 run to make it 69-62.
From there, the Bears continued to chip away at the Bucs’ lead and ultimately using an 8-2 run – capped by a dunk from Moten with 40 seconds left – to make it 71-70. On the next possession, Riley turned the ball over with nine seconds left, and the Bucs were left to make a defensive stop.
The Bears in-bounded the ball and were unable to progress to the basket quick enough as the Bucs implemented a full-court defense, forcing a timeout by head coach Bob Hoffman with 2.8 seconds left on the clock. After the timeout, the Bears did run a well-designed play to get Moten an open look from 15 feet, but the shot missed the mark.
For the Bears, guard Jestin Lewis led the way with 18 points, while Moten finished with 13 and Jibri Bryan added 11. The Bears shot 46 percent from the floor, but were out-rebounded by the Bucs 39-33.
ETSU – which hit 10-of-26 shots from 3-point range for a 39 percent clip – also out-rebounded the Bears 39-33 and shot 77 percent from the foul line. The Bucs committed just nine turnovers and Mercer was equally protective of the ball with just seven turnovers on the night.
Meanwhile, Mercer shot 46 percent from the floor and 73 percent from the foul line in the win.
The Citadel 77, Samford 67
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Quinton Marshall recorded his first double-double, 17 points and 10 rebounds, both career highs, to guide The Citadel to a 77-67 victory in Southern Conference action on Thursday evening. The win marked the sixth at McAlister Field House this season and is also the second in as many games for the Bulldogs, who climb to 2-2 in league play and 7-8 overall.
Marshall capped off the game by hitting 6-of-10 from the floor and 4-of-5 at the free throw line. Defensively he made his presence felt by scaling the glass for five defensive boards and converting two blocks.
Leading 60-55 at the 9:22 mark of the second half, Marshall drove past the Samford (7-11, 0-5 SoCon) defense to put The Citadel up seven. However, four points by Marcus Johnson and a timely 3-pointer off the hand of Tyler Hood brought the game to 66-all tie with less than four minutes remaining.
It was there that shooting guard Ashton Moore interjected himself into The Citadel offense as he singlehandedly scored seven straight, including a jumper from the left elbow that drew a foul by Brandon Roberts, as the Cadets moved in front 73-67.
After a solid defensive effort by The Citadel that resulted in a block by P.J. Horgan and defensive rebound by Marshall, the Raleigh native pushed the lead to eight with a pair of free throws.
The Bulldogs completed their ninth all-time victory in the series with Samford with a pair of free throws by Moore with 24 seconds remaining.
Marshall was joined among the individual offensive leaders by Moore (20 points) and Horgan (15). That trio, along with nine points off the bench from Jake Wright, provided the Dogs with consecutive league wins for the first time since they collected three straight at the close of the 2013-14 season.
Moore topped the 20-point mark for the seventh time this season and 19th time in his career as he finished 5-of-13 from the floor and was 9-of-9 from the free throw line. He has now made 22 straight free throws dating back to the second half of the Western Carolina game.
The Citadel continued its red hot shooting as it hit 25-of-49 from the floor, knocking down better than 50 percent from the field in each of the last five halves that it has played. The Dogs also managed to hit 7-of-11 from 3-point range and were successful on 20-of-22 attempts at the free throw line.
Much of the Cadets' success can be attributed to their 35-23 edge on the boards which included a season high 14 rebounds against NCAA Division I opponents.
Samford's offensive production came from the tandem of Darius Jones-Gibson (18 points) and Brandon Roberts (15). Jones-Gibson tied his season-high by virtue of hitting 7-of-12 from the floor and 4-of-6 at the free throw line.
Samford finished with a 40-30 edge in points in the paint as it knocked down 27-of-59 from the field. The Citadel held the Bulldogs to 5-of-19 from 3-point range, including just a 2-of-11 performance in the second half.
The Citadel carried over its hot shooting from the previous contest against UNCG as it hit 13-of-26 from the floor in the opening frame. The Dogs connected on four of those shots from long distance and used an 8-of-9 performance at the free throw line to take a four-point lead into the intermission.
Horgan was the key cog in the Cadets' offense with 13 points, as he hit 5-of-8 from the field, to go along with four rebounds and two assists.
The Citadel used five points each from Marshall Harris III and Marshall to establish a 14-6 lead at the 15:38 mark, but Samford quickly retaliated with back-to-back buckets by Christen Cunningham to make for a four point contest.
The Cadets managed to distance themselves just over three minutes later when Wright connected on a long range 3-pointer on a pass from Sledge, stretching the lead to 23-12.
A 13-6 run by the visiting Bulldogs that was highlighted by six points from Jones-Gibson trimmed The Citadel lead to 29-25 with just over six minutes left in the frame.
A timely trey by Harris pushed The Citadel's lead back to seven, 32-25, however four unanswered by Evan Taylor helped pull Samford within two with 1:35 remaining.