Scanning the SoCon (2-17-24)

Saturday, February 17, 2024

Only four games were on the schedule today, as Furman and Chattanooga will face on Sunday on the CBS Sports Network in a nationally televised game with a tipoff at 2 pm in Timmons Arena. In Saturday's games, there was a major upset as the Mercer Bears upset the league-leading Samford Bulldogs in Macon.  In other games, The Citadel won the military school battle over rival VMI in Charleston, while UNCG handled Wofford and the Catamounts picked up a 5-point win in Cullowhee to get a firmer grip on that important 6th position in the conference standings, which will avoid the Friday play-in games at the start of the SoCon MBB Tournament, on the "Road to Asheville"

Samford  84 -  Mercer 88
Probably the biggest upset of the season was pulled off by Mercer as Jalyn McCreary scored 27 points to lead the Bears over Samford 88-84 on Saturday. David Thomas scored 19 points and added seven assists, while Alex Holt shot 7 of 10 from the field and 2 for 3 from the line to finish with 16 points, and eight rebounds. For the Bulldogs, Achor Achor finished with 20 points and nine rebounds, and Rylan Jones added 19 points. The Bulldogs ended a six-game winning streak with the loss, but remain in first place in the standings

ETSU 65 - Western Carolina 70
The Catamounts Vonterius Woolbright picked up his NCAA-leading 23rd double-double as he and Russell Jones both scored 21 points as the Catamounts beat East Tennessee State 70-65 on Saturday night. Woolbright added 10 rebounds to round out the double as Jones posted three 3-pointers. DJ Campbell had 12 points. The Buccaneers were led by Ebby Asamoah with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Quimari Peterson added 13 points and Jadyn Parker put up nine points and three blocks in the losing effort for the Bucs.

UNCG 58 - Wofford 47
The Spartan's Donovan Atwell hit 15 points to lead UNCG to a 58-47 win against Wofford on Saturday night. Atwell hit 5 for 9, including 4 for 8 from beyond the arc. Keyshaun Langley added 13 points and seven assists. Corey Tripp led the way for the Terriers with 13 points, as Jackson Sivills added eight points and six rebounds for the Terriers.

VMI 52 - The Citadel 76
The Citadel evened their record with VMI this season by putting up a 76-52 win in Charleston, after the Keydets posted a  70-63 victory over the Bulldogs earlier this season in Lexington, VA.  AJ Smith scored 19 points to lead The Citadel over VMI 76-51 on Saturday. Elijah Morgan scored 15 points and added nine steals, while Quentin Millora-Brown had 13 points and  11 rebounds. The victory snapped a six-game skid for the Bulldogs. Taeshaud Jackson finished with 13 points, seven rebounds, and three steals for the Keydets.  Stephen Olowoniyi added 11 points and three blocks for VMI, which has lost eight straight games in conference play.