Sunday, January 29, 2017

SoCon Basketball Update (1-29-17)



Saturday's games.......
Here's a run down of Saturday's games including Furman's upset of UNCG and Western's upset of Wofford.


Samford at VMI
Basketball Earns Hard-Fought Win At VMI, 69-67
The Samford University basketball team overcame a 13-point first-half deficit on Saturday to charge back for a critical 69-67 road victory against the VMI Keydets in a Southern Conference matchup held at Cameron Hall. Samford (14-8, 5-4 SoCon) trailed VMI (5-15, 2-7 SoCon), 33-28, at the half, but used a 51.5-percent shooting performance from the field in the second frame to outscore the Keydets, 41-34. With their win, the Bulldogs improved to 8-4 on the road this season, including an impressive 4-1 mark in SoCon play. Samford's lone road loss in conference play occurred at defending champion Chattanooga, 82-78, last week.
Attendance: 2,387

Furman at UNCG
Furman Tops UNCG, 73-67; Paladins Move Into First Place In The SoCon
Junior Devin Sibley scored 24 points, including 22 in the second half, and Furman converted on all six of its free throw attempts in the final 1:35 to outlast UNCG, 73-67, in Southern Conference men's basketball action on Saturday afternoon at the Greensboro Coliseum. The victory, Furman's fourth consecutive win, lifted the Paladins (14-8, 7-2 SoCon) into first place in the SoCon standings at the midway point of the conference season. UNCG, who came into Saturday in first place, slipped to 16-7 overall and 7-3 in the league. Furman led 60-59 with under six minutes to play when Sibley was fouled while shooting a three-pointer and converted on all three of his free throws. The Knoxville, Tenn., native stripped the ball from Francis Alonso and went coast-to-coast for a layup to extend the lead to 65-59 with 5:23 to play before Kris Acox scored on a pass from John Davis III on the fast break to up the margin to 67-59.
Attendance: 3,884

Chattanooga at ETSU
Power basketball keys Bucs' win over Mocs, 76-71
With the opportunity to best its arch rival, the ETSU men’s basketball team went to the power game – and it worked. Senior forward Tevin Glass (Norcross, Ga.) posted his first career double-double and fellow senior post Hanner Mosquera-Perea (Istmina, Colombia) matched his career high with 18 points, as the Buccaneers bested longtime rival Chattanooga in an epic Southern Conference showdown 76-71 in front of a sellout crowd of 6,149 fans at Freedom Hall. With the win, the Bucs improved to 17-5 overall, 7-2 in conference play, and are now tied for first with Furman in the SoCon standings after the Paladins win over UNCG earlier in the day. Meanwhile, the Mocs (15-6, 6-3) dropped to fourth and are a half game back of third-place UNCG.
Attendance: 6,149

The Citadel at Mercer
Mercer Stifles The Citadel, 82-66
Demetre Rivers had 23 points to lead Mercer to its 12th straight victory over The Citadel as the Bears pulled away in the second half for an 82-66 win on Saturday. The Citadel (9-14, 2-8) jumped out to an early lead but Mercer led 33-30 at the break. The Bulldogs' Quayson Williams drilled a 3 to tie at 41 with 15:31 left in the game. Ryan Johnson answered with a jumper and Holland nailed a trey as Mercer pulled away to lead 63-50 following a Strawberry 3-point jumper with 8:01 left.
Attendance: 4,328

Wofford at Western Carolina
Catamounts Trip Terriers At Home, 68-62
The Western Carolina men's basketball picked up a key Southern Conference victory Saturday night inside the Ramsey Center as the Catamounts outlasted the Terriers of Wofford College, 68-62. Playing in front of an announced crowd of 1,894, the Catamounts controlled the boards and shot the ball well to earn the victory. The Catamounts reached double-figures led by junior point guard Devin Peterson who scored 16 points while dishing out a pair of assists. WCU shot an impressive 53.8 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes as the Catamounts opened up a 31-28 lead at the break. The percentage dipped down to 40.7 percent in the second half but it was enough to give WCU the 68-62 victory. Wofford shot a respectable 47.8 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes but dropped to 34.5 percent in the second half as they saw the Catamounts pull away for the win. The Terriers were led by sophomore Fletcher Magee who scored a game-high 21 points as he knocked down four 3-pointers. Eric Garcia added 12 points to the cause as well.
Attendance: 1,894


Current Standings......
1 (tie)-ETSU       7-2 (17-5)
1 (tie)-Furman     7-2 (14-8)
3-UNCG              7-3 (16-7)
4-UTC                 6-3 (15-6)
5-Samford           5-4 (14-8)
6 (tie)-Mercer      4-5 (10-12)
6 (tie)-Wofford    4-5 (9-13)
8 (tie)-WCU        2-7 (7-15)
8 (tie)-VMI          2-7 (5-15)
10-Citadel            2-8 (9-14)


Conference RPI Standings (WarrenNolan RPI)
1 - ACC

11 - CAA
12 - Missouri Valley
13 - Sun Belt
14- Southern
15 - Mid-America
16 - MAAC

23 - Ohio Valley
24 - Conference USA
25 - Big South
26 - Atlantic Sun

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