Richards and Curry Lead Wildcats to 78-68 Win over Mocs
Davidson improves to 27-4 and advances to face the winner of the #4 UNC Greensboro/#5 Furman match Friday, Mar. 2nd at 6:00 p.m.
With the score tied at 14 with 10:28 to go in the first half,
A Bernard Lowndes’ lay-up with 4:26 put the Mocs back on top and a three-pointer by Kevin Bridgewaters increased the margin to for with 4:13 to go. It was Bridgewaters’ second of three in the half, which tied his career-high.
Chattanooga led by one, 32-31, with 54 seconds left, but a three-pointer by Stephen Curry gave the Wildcats back the lead and Davidson went into the lock room leading 34-32.
The second half remained close in the beginning and at the 11:41 mark,
Davidson led by only two, 56-54, with 7:50 to go but a 9-2 run over the next two-and-half minutes increased the margin to nine, 65-56.
Davidson shot 51.7 percent from the field in the second half to end the game with a 42.6 percent.
Following Richards and Curry’s 20 points was Boris Meno with 14. Thomas Sanders led in rebounds with 10. Marcus Watts led
Game 5: Furman 73, UNC
After making four-straight free throws and leading by two, Furman missed two free throws with five seconds on the clock and the rebound out-of-bounds went to UNC Greensboro. Both teams scrambled for UNCG’s inbound pass intended for Hines at half court as time expired and the Paladins escaped with the victory.
The Paladins improved to 15-15 on the season and will take on No. 1 Davidson on Friday at 6 p.m. The fourth-seeded Spartans’ season ended at 16-14.
The fifth-seeded Paladins were led by Robby Bostain’s 18 points. Moussa Diagne added 16 points and nine boards, while Gerad Punch chipped in 14 points.
For the 50th-straight game, UNCG’s Kyle Hines finished in double-digits with a game-high 33 points and nine boards. The SoCon Player of the Year, Hines had 20 of his points in the first half, marking the 25th time he’d reached double-digits in the opening half. Ricky Hickman added 20 points as the duo combined for 53 of the Spartan’s 71 points.
The lead teetered back-and-forth between the two teams to open the second half, with no team leading by more than four in the first 12 minutes of the period. Leading 48-42, a 5-0 Furman run capped off by a three lifted the Paladins to a seven-point, 53-46 lead with just under eight to play.
UNCG answered on its next possession as Hines hit a jumper from the middle of the key to cut the lead to five at 53-48 with 7:30 left. A 7-0 Furman run tied the Paladins largest lead of the game as they went up 60-48 on two free throws by Diagne.
Trailing 62-51, a three-pointer by UNCG’s Hickman cut the Furman lead to single digits at eight points, 62-54, with 3:45 left on the clock. Furman turned the ball over on its next three possessions as UNCG cut the lead to five off an old-fashioned three-point play by Hickman with 2:52 to go. Hines capped off an 8-0 Spartan run with two free throws.
Diagne converted two offensive rebounds into buckets on the next two Furman possessions to give the Paladins a seven-point, 66-59 lead with 1:15 remaining.
On the ensuing possession, UNCG’s Dwayne Johnson hit a clutch three to cut the lead back to four, 66-62, with just under a minute left in the game. Furman hit 3-of-4 from the free throw line and Hines added a bucket to make the score 69-64 with 32 seconds left, before Toney hit a clutch three to pull the Spartans within two points at 69-67 with 23 seconds remaining.
The Spartans answered each of the Paladins final four points to make the score 73-71 with five seconds to go. Eric Webb missed both of his free throw attempts with five seconds on the clock, but wasn’t enough time for UNCG to put up a shot as its comeback fell short.
Furman opened the game on a 7-0 run and reached its largest lead of the half of 10 points at 24-14 with just under 10 minutes to go in the half. Led by Hines, the Spartans used a 12-0 run from that point to take their first lead of the game at 26-24 with 5:50 to play in the opening period.
UNCG extended its lead to four points at 30-26 before Furman put up four-straight to tie the game at 30. Stywall scored his first points of the game for the Spartans to give UNCG the 32-30 heading into halftime.
Thirteen of the Spartans’ 14 first-half field goals came in the paint, with Stywall’s jumper being the only exception. After scoring the final 40 points in the last meeting, the duo of Hickman and Hines put up 26 of UNCG’s first 28 points. The two finished with 28 of the team’s 32 first-half point.
Mountaineers Advance to Semifinals with 78-59 Victory Over Catamounts
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. – Appalachian State University benefited from 49 points off the bench as it went on to defeat Western Carolina, 78-59, Thursday evening in the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament at North Charleston Coliseum.
With the win the Mountaineers improved to 25-6 overall and advance to take on the winner of the game between No. 3 College of Charleston and No. 6 Georgia Southern in the semifinals, Friday at 8:30 p.m. The Catamounts ended their season at 11-20.
Three of No. 2 Appalachian’s double-digit scorers came off the bench, led by Doug McLaughlin-Williams’ 12 points as he tied a season-high with three three-pointers on four attempts. Eduardo Bermudez and Donte Minter each added 11 points, with all of Bermudez’s points coming in the second half. D.J. Thompson scored a game-high 15 points.
The seventh-seeded Catamounts were led by Nick Aldridge with a game-high 24 points as the only WCU player to score in double figures.
Appalachian shot well throughout the game, finishing at 48 percent from the field, including 40 percent from beyond the three-point arc, and at an 80 percent clip from the charity stripe.
After two points by the Catamounts, Thompson nailed his third three-pointer of the game to open the second half for the Mountaineers as they took a 37-29 lead just 30 seconds in to the final period.
An 11-4 Appalachian run, led by nine points from Bermudez, gave ASU a 52-39 lead with 11 minutes to go. Kellen Brand added a free throw for ASU before WCU used a 7-0 run to pull within 11 points at 59-48 with 7:12 remaining. Bermudez stopped the run with his fifth and sixth free throws of the evening, giving him 11 of ASU’s previous 14 points and ASU a 61-48 lead. A Minter jumper extended the lead to 63-48 with 6:30 to play.
Appalachian continued its second-half dominance as it outscored Western Carolina by a total of 44-32 in the second half as it went on to a 78-59 victory.
Tied at five apiece,
The Catamounts cut the lead to two points led by back-to-back buckets by Aldridge, before a layup by Minter extended the lead back to four at 27-23 with 3:34 left in the period. Four more unanswered points by ASU stretched the lead to 31-23 with just under two minutes to play.
McLaughlin-Williams hit his second three of the game at the 54 second mark as Appalachian went into halftime with a 34-27 lead.
Game 7:
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. – The College of Charleston recovered from a seven-point halftime deficit as it went on to defeat Georgia Southern, 77-66, Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament at North Charleston Coliseum.
The win advances the Cougars to the semifinals with a record of 21-10, where they will face No. 2 Appalachian State on Friday at 8:30 p.m. The Eagles ended their season at 15-16.
With a home team crowd on its side, third-seeded
The sixth-seeded Eagles were led by Louis Graham’s 17 points. Donte Gennie, Antoine Johnson and Dwayne Foreman added 15, 13 and 11 points, respectively.
CofC came out strong to open the second half as it used a 7-2 run to cut the seven-point halftime deficit to two at 37-35, with 16:26 to go to force a GSU timeout.
The Eagles appeared to have it under control at that point as they regained a 39-35 lead on a tip-in by Graham with 14:20 to play. However, the Cougars used a 10-0 run from that point, led by two more Draper three’s, to take their first lead of the game at 40-39 and expand it to 45-39 at the 12-minute mark.
Dwayne Foreman snapped a three-minute scoring drought for the Eagles with a three pointer to cut the lead to three at 45-42 with 11:30 left in the game.
The Cougars used a 16-2 advantage in the next four minutes to take their largest lead to that point at 12 points at 61-49 with 5:12 remaining on the clock.
The Eagles grabbed the lead first to open the game and held on to it, leading by as many seven at 18-11 at the 11:30 mark. A 6-0 Cougar run, sparked by back-to-back three’s, cut the lead to one point, 18-17, with 10 minutes to go in the half.
One point is as close as CofC would get in the remainder of the first half as GSU extended its lead back to seven at 35-28 heading into halftime.
