SoCon Basketball Update (2-5-17)

Saturday's games.....


Furman at The Citadel
Sibley, Acox Shoot Furman Past The Citadel For Sixth Consecutive Victory, 99-91
Junior Devin Sibley poured in a career-high 32 points and senior Kris Acox added 19 points and 11 rebounds to power Furman to a 99-91 victory over The Citadel on Saturday afternoon at McAlister Fieldhouse in Charleston, S.C. The victory improved first place Furman to 16-8 overall and 9-2 in the Southern Conference. It marked the Paladins' first six-game winning streak since December of 2001 and their first six-game winning streak in league play since the 1979-80 season. Sibley drained his first seven shots, including four from behind the three-point arc, to score 20 first half points. The Paladins shot 61.8% as a team in the opening 20 minutes to build a 57-40 advantage at the intermission.
Attendance: 4,388

UNCG at Samford
MEN’S BASKETBALL RETURNS TO WINNING WAY WITH 81-75 VICTORY AT SAMFORD
The UNCG men’s basketball team snapped a season-high three-game losing streak Saturday afternoon as the Spartans went into Birmingham, Ala., and grabbed an 81-75 victory over Samford at the Pete Hanna Center. The back-and-forth game featured 18 lead changes and was tied 11 different times as the two teams went toe-to-toe for the second time this season. The victory improves to the Spartans to 17-8 on the season and 8-4 in Southern Conference play, keeping UNCG alone in fourth place overall. The 17 victories for the Spartans marks the seventh-most wins in program history and the most wins since notching 18 victories in the 2004-05 season. The win also improved the Spartans to 4-2 on the road in SoCon play, their most road wins in league action since the 2011-12 season (four road wins).
Attendance: 1,408

Wofford at Mercer
Terriers Win Thriller at Mercer 65-62
Eric Garcia hit a three pointer with 1.8 seconds to go in the game and propelled the Wofford men's basketball team to a 65-62 win over Mercer on Saturday afternoon. With the win, Wofford improves to 11-13 overall and 6-5 in the Southern Conference, while Mercer falls to 11-14 on the season and 5-7 in conference action. Wofford swept Mercer this season and won back to back road conference games for the first time since Feb. 26-28, 2015 when The Terriers defeated Mercer and Furman. The win also gives Young 243 career wins, tied for second most career wins by a Southern Conference coach with Mack McCarthy of Chattanooga (1985-1997) and Burton Shipley of Maryland (1923-1947).
Attendance: 4,386

Western Carolina at Chattanooga
Strong Second Half Propels Mocs Past Western Carolina
-Casey Jones' game-high 19 points led four Chattanooga Mocs in double figures in a 77-65 win over visiting Western Carolina Saturday evening. It was needed to hold off the hot-shooting Catamounts. Western took a 44-42 lead on Devin Peterson's jumper with just over 14 minutes remaining in the contest. The Mocs answered with a 10-2 run to flip the advantage to 52-46 for the Gig City lads after Justin Tuoyo's layup on a nice Jones feed. Chattanooga's defense limited the Cats to one field goal over four-plus minutes to take control.
Attendance: 5,449


Current Standings......
1-Furman           9-2 (16-8)
2-ETSU             8-2 (18-5)
3-UTC               8-3 (17-6)
4-UNCG             8-4 (17-8)
5-Samford          6-5 (15-9)
5 Wofford           6-5 (11-13)
7 Mercer            5-7 (11-14)
8-VMI                2-8 (5-16)
10-(tie)-Citadel    2-10 (9-16)
10 (tie)-WCU      2-10 (7-18)


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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