The Road to Asheville (Saturday Results)

 Saturday's SoCon Basketball results (1-4-20)

As of Sunday morning, there remains only three teams without a conference loss, Furman at 3-0, WCU & Samford at 2-0.  At the other end of the standings, Mercer, VMI, & the Citadel all have three conference losses. If you missed the games on Saturday, you missed some great basketball, capped off by a double-overtime finish in Spartanburg.


Western Carolina at The Citadel
The Catamount's Onno Steger made 8 of 12 three-pointers, scoring 28 points, to lead the Cats past The Citadel 86-82 on Saturday as the Cats win their third straight game. Carlos Dotson completed his sixth double-double or the season as he grabbed 10 rebounds and scored 10 points. The Bulldogs' Fletcher Abee's three-pointer with about a minute left put The Citadel ahead 82-81, but Dotson made a layup and he and Mason Faulkner combined for three free throws before a 3-point try by The Citadel's Tyson Batiste with 5 seconds left missed, giving the Dogs their third straight loss.


Samford at VMI
In the day's other early game, Samford's Josh Sharkey scored 25 points as the Bulldogs edged VMI 78-75 in Lexington. Samford trailed 40-37 at halftime and 47-41 with 14:57 remaining in the second half. The Bulldogs took the lead for good at 54-53 and quickly pushed their advantage to nine points. Evee had 24 points for the Keydets who have now lost four consecutive games. Gilkeson scored a career-high 22 points and had 10 rebounds. Samford is now 2-0 and the Keydets are 0-3 in conference play.


ETSU at Furman
Both ETSU & Furman came in Saturday's afternoon game riding a five-game win streak and both were unbeaten in conference play but it was the Paladins who seized control with a 13-0 run late in the first half, as Furman defeated ETSU 65-56. The Paladins Jordan Lyons sank four 3-pointers for 14 points, Noah Gurley added 10 points with 12 rebounds. Bo Hodges had 12 points for the Bucs, whose five-game win streak was broken. Tray Boyd III, who entering the game was leading the Bucs in scoring, was held to 5 points (2 of 10) in 18 minutes.


Chattanooga at Mercer
The Mocs Matt Ryan & David Jean-Batiste each scored 17 points as Chattanooga held off the Bears for a 70-61 win to earn their first conference win. Mercer's Djordje Dimitrijevic made a 3-point field goal in each of his last 14 straight games, finished the game with 22 points as Maciej Bender added 14 points. The Mocs are now 1-1 in the SoCon while the Bears drop to 0-3 in conference play.


UNCG at Wofford
Saturday's nightcap game ended in double overtime, as the Terriers made free throws down the stretch to edge out the Spartans 98-92. UNCG's Keyshaun Langley hit a 3-pointer with 48 seconds remaining in regulation to send the game to overtime tied at 78, then Isaiah Miller's 3-pointer for the Spartans with 18 seconds left in the first OT tied the score at 86, forcing another overtime period. In the second overtime period, Wofford used 6-of-8 free-throw shooting and a Tray Hollowell layup to stay in front. Isaiah Miller paced the Spartans with 28 points. The Terriers are now 1-1 in conference play, while the Spartans are 2-1 in the SoCon.


The Standings
3-0  Furman 
2-0  WCU     
2-0  Samford
2-1  ETSU   
2-1  UNCG   
1-1  UTC     
1-1  Wofford
0-3  Citadel 
0-3  Mercer 
0-3  VMI     


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