No. 7 seed Wofford 77, No. 2 seed Furman 68
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – No. 7 seed Wofford picked up its second straight win at the 2020 Ingles Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Championship presented by General Shale with a 77-68 win over No. 2 seed Furman on Saturday night. Wofford’s Chevez Goodwin led all scorers with 19 points, while teammate Trevor Stumpe added 18 for the Terriers, who held a decisive 40-24 rebounding edge.
 
Holding a 46-45 edge midway through the second half, Wofford put together an 8-0 run in just 60 seconds to push its advantage to nine (54-45). Tray Hollowell started the run with a 3-pointer, followed by a Goodwin layup. The run was capped off by a triple from Stumpe, who finished the game 5-of-9 from 3-point range. The Terriers would push their lead to 12 (60-48) and the Paladins would draw no closer than six down the stretch.
 
Mike Bothwell recorded team highs in points (18) and rebounds (seven) for Furman. Senior Jordan Lyons added 15 points, while Clay Mounce added 13 points before fouling out in the second half. Alex Hunter led all players with five assists.
 
Both teams played tight defense early in the game, as the Terriers held a slim 23-20 halftime lead. Wofford limited the Paladins to 7-of-25 shooting in the opening frame, while the Terriers were just 9-of-23 from the field in the first half and committed eight turnovers.
 
The Terriers advance to the semifinals and await the winner of Saturday night’s UNCG-Chattanooga contest in Sunday’s second semifinal. That game will follow the ETSU-Western Carolina opener. Both semifinals will be broadcast on select Nexstar affiliates as well ESPN+.
 
RECORDS: Furman 25-7 | Wofford 18-15
 
3 NOTES TO KNOW
- Wofford has won five straight Southern Conference tournament games dating back to the 2019 season and has now advanced to the semifinals for the fourth consecutive year. The Terriers are 5-3 all-time in the semifinals.
- Furman has won a school-record 25 games for the second consecutive season. Prior to the 2018-19 season, Furman’s school-best win total was 23 (occurred three times).
- Saturday’s game was just the second meeting between Furman and Wofford in the Southern Conference tournament. The Terriers claimed the only other meeting, a 67-64 win in the 2015 title game.
 
3 STATS TO KNOW
- Furman was second in the SoCon in scoring average (77.1 ppg), but the Paladins were held below their average in all three games against Wofford, scoring 52 (Jan. 17), 67 (Feb. 22) and 68 (March 7).
- Both teams scored primarily in the half court and utilized their strong post players as Furman and Wofford each scored 28 points in the paint. The Paladins were held without a single fastbreak point, while Wofford was limited to just six.
- Wofford won two-of-three meetings against the Paladins and led a total of 106:12 in those three contests, while Furman held the lead for just 7:27.
 
No. 6 seed Chattanooga 78, No. 3 seed UNCG 68
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Sixth-seeded Chattanooga rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit to stun second-seeded UNCG, 78-68, in the final quarterfinal matchup of the 2020 Ingles Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Championship presented by General Shale. The Mocs erased a 14-point first-half deficit to earn a spot in Sunday’s second semifinal game against the Wofford Terriers.
 
Chattanooga, who led by as many as 10 in the second half, was led by Ramon Vila with 22 points and 12 boards on the night for his first double-double of the season. David Jean-Baptiste finished with 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting, giving the Mocs their first game with two 20+ point scorers since February 19 against The Citadel. Chattanooga finished the game 29-54 from the floor for a .537 shooting percentage. Isaiah Miller led UNCG with 17 points, while Alex Hunter finished with 12 and James Dickey turned in a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
 
UNCG opened a 14-point lead in the first half and held on to the double-digit scoring margin until the Mocs used an 8-0 scoring run to cut the lead to single-digits and put the Spartans on their heels. After Chattanooga cut the lead to five with 24 seconds to go in the half, UNCG got a jump shot from Malik Massey as time expired to give the Spartans a seven-point halftime lead at 42-35.
 
Chattanooga opened the second half on a 6-0 run, capped by an inbounds steal and layup by Jean-Baptiste to quickly cut the Spartan lead to one, but UNCG responded with back-to-back baskets by Kaleb Hunter to keep the Chattanooga comeback at bay. The Spartans continued to hold a lead until an and-one play from Chattanooga’s Vila tied the game at 57 with just under 10:00 to go.
 
The Mocs took their first lead of the game on two free throws by Stefan Kenic, as the Chattanooga defense held the Spartans scoreless for 6:00 and the offense put together a 15-2 run to take a seven-point lead. Chattanooga pushed the lead to 10 on a David Jean-Baptiste layup with 5:03 to go, before back-to-back baskets by UNCG cut the lead to five at the game’s final media timeout.
 
Jean-Baptiste scored the game’s final five points over the final two minutes after UNCG cut the lead to five, sealing the Mocs’ 10-point victory.
 
Chattanooga moves on to face seven-seed Wofford in the second semifinal matchup on Sunday evening, at 6:30 p.m. inside Harrah’s Cherokee Center Asheville broadcasting on select Nexstar affiliates as well as ESPN+.
 
RECORDS: Chattanooga 20-12 | UNC Greensboro 23-9
 
3 NOTES TO KNOW
- Chattanooga evened the series against UNCG in the SoCon tournament. The teams are now 3-3.
- With Chattanooga’s 20th win of the season, the SoCon now has four teams with 20 wins for the fourth straight season, a feat that has never been accomplished in league history.
- Chattanooga is now 6-0 in the last 21 matchups when holding UNCG to fewer than 70 points.
 
3 STATS TO KNOW
-  Chattanooga forward Ramon Vila earned his first double-double of the season (22 points, 12 rebounds). He came into the contest averaging 12.9 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.
- Chattanooga had two players with 20+ points for the first time since Feb. 19 at The Citadel.
- UNCG leads the nation in turnover margin (+6.4) and finished with only 10 to Chattanooga’s 16.
 
2020 Ingles Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Championship presented by General Shale
Harrah’s Cherokee Center Asheville, Asheville, N.C.
 
Friday, March 6 (ESPN+)
Game 1 - (9) VMI 96, (8) Samford 78
Game 2 - (7) Wofford 93, (10) The Citadel 76
 
Saturday, March 7 (ESPN+/Nexstar)
Game 3 - (1) ETSU 70, (9) VMI 57
Game 4 - (5) Western Carolina 70, (4) Mercer 56
Game 5 - (7) Wofford 77, (2) Furman 68
Game 6 - (6) Chattanooga 78, (3) UNCG 68
 
Sunday, March 8 (ESPN+/Nexstar)
Game 7 - (1) ETSU vs. (5) Western Carolina, 4 p.m.
Game 8 - (7) Wofford vs. (6) Chattanooga, 6:30 p.m.
 
Monday, March 9 (ESPN)
Championship game, 7 p.m.