Sunday, February 5, 2023

A recap of Saturday's SoCon MBB games


Saturday, February 4, 2023

As we predicted, the three-way tie for first place in the SoCon standings was not broken in Saturday's play, however there was a little movement in the middle of the pack.  Western took sole possession of fourth place, while the Mocs fell into a tie for eighth place with the Citadel. There is now a three-way tie for fifth place between Mercer, ETSU, and Wofford.  

UNCG 79 - The Citadel 59
(UNCG) men's basketball team remains undefeated in Southern Conference (SoCon) road games following a 20-point victory, 79-59, over The Citadel on Saturday afternoon in the McAlister Field House. UNCG is now 6-0 in SoCon road games. This was the 11th win of the season by double figures for the Spartans and second-straight game winning by 20 points. This is the fifth game this season, where UNCG has won by 20 or more points. Five from UNCG scored double digits in the victory, including Keyshaun Langley who tallied a game high of 19 points. Keondre Kennedy followed with 18 points. Joryam Saizonou chipped in a career-high 14 points, while Mohammed Abdulsalam and Bas Leyte each scored 10 points.

Chattanooga 68 - Western Carolina 83
Tre Jackson led five Western Carolina players in double figures with 18 points as WCU earned an 83-68 victory over Chattanooga on Saturday afternoon on Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center in front of a season-high 3,157 fans. WCU improves to 13-12 overall and 6-6 in the Southern Conference while Chattanooga drops to 12-13 and 4-8. In leading the Catamounts offensively, Jackson finished 6-for-11 from the field and 4-for-8 behind the 3-point line. Russell Jones Jr. tallied 15 points and Vonterius Woolbright contributed his fifth double-double of the year with 12 points and 10 rebounds, all of which occurred on the defensive glass. Woolbright also recorded a team-best five assists. DJ Campbell tallied 11 points. Tyzhaun Claude posted his team-best eighth double-double with 10 points and a team-high 12 rebounds. Of Claude's 12 rebounds, 11 were defensive boards.

VMI 54 - Mercer 80
A season-high 13 three-pointers led the Bears to an 80-54 victory over VMI on Saturday afternoon in Hawkins Arena. Braden Sparks led the team from behind the arc with four treys while Harrison Drake and Michael Zanoni had three each. The Bears improve to 11-13 overall and 4-7 in the conference. Mercer also committed only two turnovers, the fewest in program history. The Bears led for 34:10 and by as many as 27 points. The 26-point victory is the second-largest against a Division I opponent this season (27, vs. Morehead State). After struggling beyond the arc for much of conference play, 13 three-pointers were the most scored since January 13, 2022 against VMI when the Bears scored 17. Sparks and Drake both set career highs in points, field goals made, three-pointers made, and minutes against the Keydets.

ETSU 62 - Samford 73
The Samford Men's Basketball team never trailed in its 73-62 Southern Conference victory against ETSU on Saturday, Feb. 4 from the Pete Hanna Center.A.J. Staton-McCray scored 16 points as Samford beat East Tennessee State 73-62 on Saturday. Staton-McCray had six rebounds and five steals for the Bulldogs (16-9, 10-2 Southern Conference). Jermaine Marshall shot 4 for 9, including 1 for 3 from beyond the arc to add 10 points. Bubba Parham shot 2 for 8 (2 for 6 from 3-point range) and 4 of 4 from the free throw line to finish with 10 points.

Wofford 67 - Furman 80
Furman raced out to a 19-point lead in the first half in route to its fourth straight win over Wofford, 80-67, before a crowd of 6,199 on Saturday evening at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in downtown Greenville, S.C. The Paladins, winners of six straight, improved to 19-6 overall and maintained a share of first place in the Southern Conference at 10-2. Wofford fell to 13-12 overall and 5-7 in league play. Furman scored the first eight points of the game, including six from Jalen Slawson, and built a 42-23 lead before carrying a 42-25 advantage into halftime. The Paladins shot 52.9% and connected on six triples in the first half.





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