The Citadel 74, ETSU 73
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Citadel’s Ashton Moore hit a jumper with three seconds left in regulation to give the Bulldogs’ a 74-73 win over the ETSU men’s basketball team Thursday night inside McAlister Field House.
Moore’s shot overshadowed the late-game heroics of ETSU’s Jalen Riley, who hit three shots that gave the Bucs a lead in the last two minutes – including a jumper that made it 73-72 with eight seconds left on the clock. Unfortunately for the Bucs, they couldn’t make a final defensive stop to seal the win.
With the loss, ETSU drops to 16-12 overall, 8-9 in Southern Conference play, while The Citadel improves to 11-17, 6-11.
Moore finished with a game-high 21 points, while his fellow guard Jake Wright added 15, and teammates Quinton Marshall and Brian White each pitched in 10. For the Bucs, Riley and sophomore guard A.J. Merriweather each had a team-high 19 points, while senior guard Rashawn Rembert netted 10.
Key to the victory was The Citadel’s perfect 18-of-18 shooting clip at the foul line – led by Moore’s 9-of-9 effort at the line.
Merriweather was the story in the first half for ETSU, netting 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting. However, it wasn’t enough to give the Bucs a lead at the break.
While ETSU held the advantage for the first nine minutes of game play, The Citadel used a 12-2 run midway through the half to take an 8-point lead at 24-16. At that point, ETSU methodically cut into the Bulldogs’ lead and Merriweather ultimately gave the Bucs a two-point edge at 37-35 thanks to a 3-pointer with seven seconds left in the first half.
Unfortunately for ETSU, the Bulldogs quickly got the ball up the floor and Warren Sledge sank a 3-pointer at the buzzer to stake The Citadel to a 38-37 lead at the break. In the first half, both teams shot well, with ETSU hitting 50 percent of its shots and the Bulldogs connecting at a 63 percent clip.
After the break, ETSU took the lead early on, but at that point The Citadel put together a 13-3 run thanks in large part to three straight 3-pointers from guard Jake Wright. That run helped the Bulldogs build a lead of as many as seven at 59-52 with 10:13 left in regulation.
The Bucs battled back with an 11-2 run of its own to retake the lead at 65-63, but from there it was a back and forth affair until Riley hit a 3-pointer to make it 71-69 with 48 seconds left. On the next possession, The Citadel misses two shots but managed to grab the offensive rebound each day, and Moore hit a basket and was fouled on the play. He made the free throw and The Citadel led 72-71 with 18 seconds left.
That set up Riley, who made a fall away jumper to make it 73-72, but then Moore raced to the other end and hit his own fall away, contested shot to give the Bulldogs the win.
For the game, The Citadel shot 48 percent from the floor and 40 percent from 3-point range, while ETSU hit on 48 percent of its shots and 35 percent of its 3-point attempts. The Bucs were out-rebounded 32-28 but held a 12-10 edge on the offensive glass.
Wofford 76, Mercer 72
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men’s basketball team battled back from a 14-point deficit before falling to Southern Conference leader Wofford, 76-72 on Thursday night at Hawkins Arena. Senior Darious Moten scored a team-high 18 points, while junior Ike Nwamu and freshman Stephon Jelks chipped in 14 apiece.
Mercer slipped to 16-14 (11-6 SoCon) while Wofford extended its winning streak to four and moved to 24-6 (15-2 SoCon).
Moten scored 16 of his points in the second half while helping the Bears win the period by a 47-41 margin. Nwamu dished a career-high eight assists and Jelks was 6-for-7 from the floor en route to his season-high scoring total.
A veteran Wofford team was undaunted by a sold-out Hawkins Arena, hitting 6-of-8 field goals out of the gate to bust open a 14-7 lead. The Bears retaliated with a 9-2 surge, keyed by the play of Jelks and freshman Jordan Strawberry to earn their first tie at the 8:28 juncture.
Mercer’s freshman duo fed off an electric crowd, combining for 10 of Mercer’s first 12 points. Jelks, who had seven of the points, was aided by three assists from Strawberry during the stretch.
After tying the game, Mercer missed five consecutive 3-pointers and the visitors scored 11-unanswered while mounting the 14-point lead. The Bears finished the half nicely, outscoring the Terriers 5-1 down the stretch to trim the deficit to 35-25 at the break.
Mercer roared out of the dressing room with a 9-0 run to get within a single point of the lead. Junior Jestin Lewis and Jelks finally put the Bears ahead, as a Lewis nailed a trey Jelks hammered a fast break slam to put the hosts in front, 39-37.
With 6:39 to play, the game’s eighth tie saw the teams knotted at 55-55. The Terriers scored the next five points to gain separation and ultimately pushed their lead to 71-61 with 2:48 to go.
As the clock went under the one minute mark, Mercer trailed by six and had life as junior Phillip Leonard got a steal in the backcourt. An offensive foul derailed the momentum just moments later and allowed the Terriers to maintain the buffer.
The Bears cut it to 75-72 on a 3-pointer by Moten with 16 seconds to play, but the shot proved to be too-little, too late as Wofford’s Lee Skinner hit a free throw on the other end to account for the game’s final score.
Nwamu handed out six of his assists in the second half and finished the game with just a single turnover. The Bears finished with a 25-13 advantage in bench scoring, as Jelks was joined in the scoring column by Lewis, Strawberry and Lawrence Brown.
Furman 53, Western Carolina 49
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Furman limited Western Carolina to 25.8 percent shooting and used a 19-0 second half run to rally past the Catamounts, 53-49, in Southern Conference men’s basketball action on Thursday night at Timmons Arena.
The win snapped a seven-game skid for the Paladins and improved Furman to 8-20 overall and 5-12 in league play. The Catamounts dropped to 13-16 overall and 8-9 in the SoCon.
Junior Stephen Croone netted a game-high 15 points to pace three Paladins in double figures and surpassed 1,300 points for his career. Junior Kris Acox notched his sixth double-double of the season with 12 points and a career-high tying 17 rebounds, while freshman Geoff Beans added 11 points, including nine during the decisive second half run.
Western Carolina held a 37-28 lead with under 10:30 to go when Acox grabbed consecutive offensive boards before earning a trip to the foul line. He connected on both free throws, and after a pair of offensive boards on the next possession, Beans scored and completed the three-point play at the foul line to trim the Catamount lead to 37-33.
Following an Acox steal, freshman Devin Sibley drained two free throws and then gave the Paladins the lead when he converted on all three trips to the charity stripe on Furman’s next possession after drawing a three-shot foul. After Croone added a three-point play on a drive from the left wing with 6:36 to play, Beans buried a three on the next possession before converting on all three free throws following a three-shot foul the next time down the floor to up the Furman lead to 47-37 with 4:57 to go.
All told, Furman held the Catamounts without a bucket for 5:49 and limited Western Carolina to just one basket in a stretch of over 8:30 in the second half. The Paladins struggled from the foul line down the stretch, making just 4-of-18 free throws in the final four minutes. James Sinclair hit a three with 6.4 seconds left to trim the Furman lead to 52-49, but Beans managed to hit 1-of-2 free throws at the other end with less than five seconds left to secure the win.
Furman shot just 28.3 percent, but the Paladins made 24-of-42 free throws and used 19 offensive rebounds to register 16 second-chance points. Coach Niko Medved’s club finished with a 48-46 edge on the class and held Western Carolina to 17-of-66 shooting, including 3-for-23 from three-point range.
The Catamounts held a 24-19 lead at the half and upped their lead to as many as nine points before Furman’s game-changing run. Mike Brown led Western Carolina with 14 points and 16 rebounds, while Sinclair added 13 points on 4-for-23 shooting.
UNCG 81, Samford 67
GREENSBORO, N.C. – UNCG men’s basketball senior guard Nicholas Paulos became the 21st member of the 1,000-point club at UNCG Thursday night and the second to reach the mark this season as the Spartans used a 22-4 run in the second half to pull away from Samford 81-67 in a pivotal Southern Conference contest at the Greensboro Coliseum. The short-handed Spartans only played with six scholarship players and eight total players saw action in the 14-point win.
Six different Spartans scored in double figures in the victory, marking the Spartans second straight win in their regular season-ending three-game home stretch. UNCG closes out the regular season Saturday evening as they host Chattanooga at 5 p.m. at the Greensboro Coliseum.
The victory improves the Spartans to 6-11 in SoCon play and coupled with VMI’s double overtime loss at home to Chattanooga, keeps UNCG in the running for the sixth and final bye in the upcoming SoCon Tournament. The Spartans trail the Keydets (7-11) by one game with one remaining and are tied with The Citadel for seventh place, but would own the tiebreaker if they catch VMI Saturday.
Paulos, who was held scoreless in the first half, helped the Spartans ignite a second half run as he hit his first 3-pointer at the 12:53 mark before reaching the 1,000-point mark at the 10:02 mark in fitting fashion, nailing his second long range bomb of the night. He finished with 11 points and five rebounds as he was 3-of-5 from distance and was won of six players in double figures in the victory.
Redshirt sophomore center R.J. White continued his dominant play of late as he posted his seventh double-double of the season. White scored a career-high 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in 25 minutes of action as he was 10-of-13 from the field. Over his last four games, he is averaging 19.3 points per game and is shooting 69.8 percent (30-of-43) from the field in just 23.4 minutes per game.
Sophomore guard Tevon Saddler also continued his strong play as he fell just shy of a double-double as well with 10 points and a career-high eight assists. Saddler’s play helped the Spartans hand out 16 assists compared to just nine turnovers while playing all game against the Samford full court pressure. Saddler has averaged 5.7 assists per game over the last seven games, including back-to-back nights with new career highs in helpers while posting a 1.82 assist/turnover ratio.
Junior forward Kayel Locke score 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the victory as he hit all six of his free throws. Sophomore Diante Baldwin added 11 points and three steals in 35 minutes of play. Junior guard Asad Lamot added a career-high eight points off the bench as he was 3-of-4 from the field, including a pair of 3-pointres.
The Spartans finished the night shooting 50 percent (28-of-56) from the field and hit 7-of-15 from long range in the victory. UNCG dominated play in the paint, scoring 36 points down low while also holding a 37-30 edge on the glass with 12 offensive rebounds.
Samford (12-18, 5-12) finished the game shooting 43.8 percent (21-of-48) from the field and 6-of-13 from long range. The Bulldogs only connected on 61.3 percent (19-of-31) from the field and committed 11 turnovers on the night. Christen Cunningham led the way with 19 points while Tyler Hood and Marcus Johnson each finished with 11 points.
The teams came out of the gate and traded baskets in the early going with the game tied at 16-16 just over eight minutes into the contest. The Spartans had the first run of the contest, posting an 8-2 surge to take a 31-24 lead. Lamot provided the spark off the bench as he scored five points in the run, including a 3-pointer, which forced a Samford timeout.
The Bulldogs answered back with a 9-2 run of its own to tie the game at 33-33. Cunningham scored three points in the run before Hood got loose for back-to-back baskets tying the game. White converted an old-fashioned 3-point play with 48 seconds remaining to give the Spartans a 36-33 lead at the break.
The teams came out of the halftime break and the Spartans opened to a 43-36 lead as White again converted a 3-point play. After Samford cut the lead to two at 43-41 with 16:08 remaining, the Spartans scored seven straight points and churned out a 22-4 run to take a 65-45 lead with 9:11 remaining.
White started the run with another basket on the inside before the Spartans started to heat up from distance. Lamot, Paulos (two) and Baldwin all hit 3-pointers in the run taking UNCG to a 20-point advantage. Paulos scored eight points during the stretch while White added six points.
Samford tried to make a run using its full court pressure to cause some havoc but the Bulldogs were only able to pull within 11 points at 73-62 with 2:52 remaining. The Spartans sealed the victory at the free throw line, hitting six of their last eight from the charity stripe, including five by Baldwin securing the win.
The Spartans out-scored Samford 45-34 in the second half, thanks in large part to their offense, which connected on 58.3 percent (14-of-24) from the field. Additionally, the Spartans held the Bulldogs to just 34.8 percent (8-of-23) shooting from the field in the final 20 minutes.
Chattanooga 86, VMI 82 (2OT)
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The Chattanooga Mocs picked up a crucial road win in thrilling fashion, 86-82 in double overtime, at VMI. Chattanooga improves to 21-9, 14-3 in the Southern Conference, while the hosts fall to 11-17, 7-10 in league play.
Eric Robertson had a game-high 19 points leading four Mocs in double figures. Casey Jones added a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Ronrico White chipped in 15 points, six rebounds and six assists, while Greg Pryor tallied 13 points and five assists.
Phillip Anglade (26) and Julian Eleby (25) combined for 51 points. Eleby just missed a triple-double with nine rebounds and seven assists. Anglade had five rebounds and a game-high six blocks.
The Mocs came back from eight points down in the second half to take a three-point advantage, 67-64, on Jones’ layup with 87 seconds to play, After the teams traded defensive stops, the Keydets had the ball for a final possession. Eleby’s three-pointer with 0.9 seconds remaining was blocked by Justin Tuoyo, but a foul was called on Jones. Eleby calmly sank three to send the game into overtime.
White drained a three with 1:41 to play in the extra period for a three-point UTC lead, 72-69. Trey Chapman answered with a layup followed by two Anglade free throws to for a 73-72 VMI lead with 40 seconds to go.
Jones drove the paint and scored on a jumper to get the lead back to one, 74-73. Anglade drew a foul with just under 12 seconds to go, but he made one of the two to tie it at 74-all. Jones jumper from the right baseline was off to send it into a second overtime period.
Tre’ McLean gave the visitors the lead for good with a three to open the second extra frame. Duke Ethridge’s three with 1:27 to go at the end of the shot clock extended it to five, 84-79. Chattanooga made just two of five free throws down the stretch, but it held the Keydets at bay defensively to capture the 86-82 win.
VMI came into the contest averaging a nation’s best 11.9 three-pointers made per game. The Mocs limited it to just six in 24 attempts. The Keydets shot 35.9 percent from the field (14-39) and 13.3 percent from 3pt range (2-15) over the final 30 minutes after building a 36-31 halftime lead.
Chattanooga led by as many as seven early in the game before going ice cold from the field. It was up 28-26 on Robertson’s three-point play at 7:09. It took more than five minutes before they’d score again leading to a 10-0 VMI run.