No. 1 Chattanooga 59, No. 8 Samford 54
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The first quarterfinal matchup of the day went down to the wire, with the top-seeded Chattanooga Mocs outlasting the No. 8 Samford Bulldogs, 59-54, at U.S. Cellular Arena on Saturday at the 2016 Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament presented by General Shale.
UTC held Samford to just 18 points on 6-of-24 from the field in the second half to overcome a five-point halftime deficit. Samford failed to convert from beyond the arc for the first time this season.
Chattanooga also came up big on the glass in the final 20 minutes, outrebounding the Bulldogs 22-12. Samford led the board battle in the first half, 20-12, including nine rebounds on the offensive end.
Samford’s Christen Cunningham led all scorers with 18 points. The sophomore also became the first player in school history to record back-to-back 125 assist seasons with two helpers in the opening half. Bulldog rookie Dakota Quinn came off the bench and netted a career-high 10 points, all in the first half.
Chattanooga junior Tre McLean scored a team-high 16 points on 7-14 from the floor. Senior Duke Ethridge offered valuable minutes off the bench, netting 13 points and grabbing 11 boards for his first career double-double. Classmate Dee Oldham also added 12 tallies in the win.
Samford’s Darius Jones-Gibson’s bucket at 15:08 ended a near five-minute scoring drought by both teams to open the second half and gave Samford a 38-31 advantage.
UTC finally got its first basket of the half at the 13:12 mark to trim the lead to 38-34. After an empty Bulldog possession, a McLean miscue at the top of the key sent Samford’s Marcus Johnson running for what looked like a sure fast break bucket. UTC’s Johnathan Burroughs-Cook raced down the floor to block the lay-in from behind and Oldham sent the loose ball back up the floor to McLean who drained a triple from the left corner to put UTC within one, 38-37, at the 12:19 mark.
The play sparked the Mocs and a minute later McLean converted a bucket off his own steal and gave the Mocs their first lead since the opening possession, 39-38. UTC scored seven of the next 10 to boost its advantage to 46-42 with 8:07 remaining.
Despite struggling to find a rhythm from the field in the second half, Samford’s free throw shooting kept the game tight. Cunningham managed to get to the bucket down the stretch, scoring eight of the next 10 Bulldog points to tie the game at 52 with two minutes to play.
Oldham nailed a three-pointer on the ensuing possession to give Chattanooga the lead for good. Despite a flurry of turnovers in the final minutes, the Mocs hung on for the victory.
Chattanooga shot 41 percent from the field compared to 33 percent by Samford. Samford was an impressive 20-23 from the free throw stripe, including 14-16 in the first half. Chattanooga managed only 12-18 from the line. Foul trouble limited minutes for several UTC starters; the Moc got 30 points from its bench in the win.
With the win the Mocs advance to Sunday’s semifinal and will face Western Carolina.
No. 5 Western Carolina 88, No. 4 Wofford 83 (2OT)
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Survive and advance. In true March Madness fashion, a rowdy crowd at US Cellular arena got their money’s worth in the second quarterfinal game of the afternoon as the No. 5 seeded Western Carolina Catamounts advanced with an 88-83 double overtime victory over the No. 4 seeded Wofford Terriers in the Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament presented by General Shale.
With the score knotted at 73 following the first extra session, two Mike Brown buckets helped give Western a 79-75 edge. Wofford had an uncharacteristic night at the line, managing only 14-24 free throws and missing critical foul shots in overtime. A Jaylen Allen long ball pulled the Terriers within one, 84-83, with 14 seconds on the clock, but the Catamounts converted from the stripe to keep their season alive.
Brown poured in a career-high 34 points on 11-21 shooting and 9-10 from the charity stripe. Catamount big man Torrion Brummitt dumped in a season-best 25 points and pulled down 14 rebounds in the winning effort.
Wofford sharpshooter Fletcher Magee ended his freshman season nailing 6-of-11 from downtown for 23 points. Senior forward Justin Gordon contributed 18 points and classmate CJ Neumann grabbed 10 rebounds.
Magee dropped one of his triples with 36 seconds left in regulation to give the Terriers their first lead since the 5:26 mark of the first half at 60-59. On the other end, Brummit hit 1-of-2 to tie the game with 12 ticks remaining, landing on the line after battling for an offensive board. Brummit was 13-of-19 from the foul line in the contest. A Wofford three ball clanged off the rim as fans got ready for free basketball.
In the first overtime, Wofford stretched the lead to as many as five, 68-63, on a Neumann dunk with 2:34 on the clock. Marc Gosselin netted five of his 11 points in overtime, including a basket with 28 seconds left to give Western a 71-70 advantage. Another Magee trey put Wofford back on top, 73-71, but Brown calmly sunk two foul shots with five seconds remaining to extend the contest.
The game featured 14 lead changes and 11 ties. Western won the battle on the glass, 44-32. Both teams shot above 40 percent from the field and beyond the arc.
The Catamounts will challenge top-seeded Chattanooga in the first of two semifinal games on Sunday evening at 5 pm.