Draper's 38 Points Leads Cougars Over Mountaineers, 89-87 in OT

SLIDESHOW

North Charleston, S.C. - Dontaye Draper scored a career-high 38 points, including eight in overtime, to defeat the Appalachian State Mountaineers, 89-87, in overtime of the final Quarterfinal match of the 2007 Southern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament being held in the North Charleston Coliseum in North Charleston, S.C.

The Cougars (22-10) advance to face #1 Davidson in the Championship Game, Saturday, March 3rd at 6:00 p.m.  It is the first appearance in the finals for the Cougars since the 2000 Championships.  Both Appalachian State and the College of Charleston met in the tournament finals that season with the Mountaineers coming away with the 68-56 decision to earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Despite shooting 45.2 from the field in the first half, the Cougars trailed by most of it as the Mountaineers capitalized on 10 Cougar turnovers, posting 15 points off them.  Appalachian State turned the ball over seven times, resulting in six CofC points.  ASU shot 39.4 from the field.

Charleston shot 57.1 percent from the field in the second half, while Appalachian State shot 45.2.  Down by four points with 44 seconds to go in regulation, Appalachian State used two timely free throws and a lay-up buy Clayton to tie the game for the 10th time of the night.  Draper made two free throws after being fouled by ASU but on the ensuing possession, leading by two, 73-71, the Cougars fouled to put Clayton on the line shooting two.  He missed the second shot, but the Mountaineers recovered the rebound with four seconds to go and Charleston was called with another foul, sending Donte Minter to the line.  He missed the potential game-winner after tying it at 73 by making the first free throw.  CofC rebounded with three seconds but a last second shot was short and the game went into overtime.

Down 81-80 with 1:13 left in overtime, the Cougars scored seven unanswered points to take the 87-81 lead with 16 seconds to go.  ASU nailed a three-pointer at the 12 second mark to cut the margin to one, but Charleston answered with a break-away dunk to send the margin to five.  The Mountaineers connected on another three-pointer in the closing seconds but they could not get any closer as the Cougars came away with the two-point 89-87 win.

Draper's team-leading 38 points is a College if Charleston Division I record for most points scored in a game and his eight three-pointers tied his career-high.  Jermaine Johnson followed Draper with 11 points and 12 rebounds for his seventh career double-double.

Leading Appalachian State was Minter with 21 points.  Demetrius Scott followed with 20 points.   Clayton's nine rebounds also paced the team.

Charleston shot 50 percent from the field for the game, while Appalachian State shot 43.2.  Charleston edged ASU, 43-42, in rebounds but had 17 turnovers, compared to 10 for the Mountaineers.  Appalachian State was 16-for-28 from the free-throw line, while Charleston was 18-for-30

Curry Leads Davidson to 91-68 Win

SLIDESHOW

North Charleston, S.C. - Stephen Curry scored 30 points, which included six three-pointers to break the freshman NCAA record for three-pointers with 113 total this season, to lead the Davidson Wildcats to the 91-68 win over the Furman Paladins in the Quarterfinals of the 2007 Southern Conference Tournament being held this week at the North Charleston Coliseum in North Charleston, S.C.

Davidson (28-4) advances to face the winner of the #3 College of Charleston/#2 Appalachian State semifinal game Saturday, March 3rd at 6:00 p.m.  The Wildcats are defending SoCon Tournament Champions, having defeated Chattanooga, 80-55, in last year's tournament championship to earn the NCAA automatic bid.  Furman ends its season with a 15-16 record.

Davidson took advantage in the first half as Furman struggled from the field, shooting only 23.8 percent from the field, to build a 15-point lead, 30-15, going into the locker room.  The Wildcats shot 37.9 percent for the half.  Furman trailed by only two, 14-12, with 11:32 to go but was outscored 16-3 down the stretch.

In the first half Davidson was three-for-12 from the three-point line, while Furman was two-for-nine.  The Wildcats out-rebounded the Paladins, 26-15, as well.

Furman picked up its shooting percentage in the second half, hitting a 57.1 shooting percentage, but could not come back as Davidson remained hot from the floor, firing at 58.1 in the half, including a nine-for-16 effort from beyond the arc.  Furman was seven-for-15 from long range.

Following Curry and his 30 points, was Jason Richards with 20.  Boris Meno and Andrew Lovedale paced the Wildcats with seven rebounds.  Furman was led by Eric Webb with his 16 points on the night.  Moussa Diagne followed with 15.  Robby Bostain and Diagne pulled down six rebounds each to lead the Paladins.

Furman shot 42.0 from the field for the game, compared to 48.3 for Davidson.  The Wildcats out-rebounded the Paladins 38-31 and had eight turnovers, compared to 13 for the Paladins.  Davidson was 21-for-28 from the free-throw line, while Furman was 17-for-24.  For the game the Wildcats were 12-for-28 from three-point range and the Paladins were nine-for-24.