SoCon Basketball Power Rankings (1-20-15)

Welcome to Purple & Gold's SoCon Basketball Power Rankings for the week of January 19, 2015.

Each week, on Tuesday, we will bring you our power rankings for Southern Conference basketball.



 1.  (1)  Wofford 
 Record: 14-5 (5-1 SoCon)


2.  (2)  Chattanooga 
Record: 12-7 (5-1 SoCon)


3.  (3)  East Tennessee State 
Record: 11-6  (5-3 SoCon)


4.  (4) Mercer 
Record: 11-9 (6-1)



5.  (6) Virginia Military Institute 
Record: 7-12 (3-5 SoCon)


6.  (5) Western Carolina 
Record: 8-11 (3-4 SoCon)


7.  (9) Furman 
Record: 5-12 (3-4 SoCon)


8.  (7) Samford 
Record: 7-14 (0-8 SoCon)

9.  (8) The Citadel 
Record: 8-10 (3-4 SoCon)

10.  (10) UNCG 
Record: 6-13 (2-4 SoCon)

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Basketball: Today in the SoCon (1-20-15)

Tuesday, January 20, 2015 

Men's Basketball Games in the Southern Conference.

There is no games schedules today in the Southern Conference. The next games are on Thursday.

Current Standings -
1.  Mercer 6-1

2.  (tie)  Chattanooga 5-1
2.  (tie) Wofford 5-1

4.  ETSU  5-3

5.  (tie)  Furman 3-4
5.  (tie)  The Citadel  3-4
5.  (tie) Western Carolina 3-4

8,  (tie) VMI  3-5
8.  (tie) UNCG  2-4

10. Samford  0-7

Conference RPI  (RealTimeRPI.com)
CAA - 19
Sun Belt - 20
OVC - 24
Southern - 25
Big South - 27
A-Sun - 30

SoCon vs. the Field
CAA........... 0-6
Sun Belt...... 2-1
OVC.............3-1
Big South...10-4
A-Sun...........1-8

SoCon out of conference record: 34 - 62


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Mercer (Game #20)

Game Day: Thursday 

Date: January 22, 2015 

Time: 7:00 p.m. ET 

Location: Ramsey Center (7,826), Cullowhee, NC 

Radio: Catamount Sports Network 

TV / Video: SoCon Digital Network

On Thursday, Mercer travels to Cullowhee this Thursday for the very first meeting on the basketball court since the Bears joined the SoCon.  

All time, the Cats are 3-4 against the Bears, since their first meeting in 1978. The two teams split the two previous games played in Cullowhee. Currently, Mercer holds a two game win streak against Western, with the last meeting back in 2010.

The Bears bring a 11-9 overall record to Cullowhee, and are 6-1 in the conference, good enough for first place in the conference standings.  The Bears have wins over UNCG, the Citadel, Furman, Samford and twice over VMI, with a lone, single point loss to ETSU.  However, the Bears have three tough games in a row, this one against the Cats, then Chattanooga, and Wofford.  

The Bears are averaging 68 points per game (6th place in the SoCon), hitting 45% from the floor, 71% from the free throw line and 37% from three point range.  Mercer is only giving up 63 point per game (2d place in the SoCon). The Bears have 2 players averaging in double figures, Ike Nwamu leads the scoring with 16.3 ppg, followed by Darious Moten with 10.4 ppg, 

Mercer Probable Starters

Junior point guard, Phillip Leonard, 6'2" 200 lbs - 8.4 ppg

Junior guard, Ike Nwamu, 6'5" 205 lbs - 16 ppg

Junior guard, Jibri Bryan, 6'4" 185 lbs - 7.6 ppg

Senior forward, Darious Moten, 6'6" 215 lbs - 10.4 ppg

Senior forward, J.T. Halica, 6'10" 220 lbs - 8.9 ppg

Chart Courtesy Daily Catamount

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Basketball: Today in the SoCon (1-18-15)

Sunday, January 15, 2015 

Men's Basketball Games in the Southern Conference.

There is no games schedules today in the Southern Conference. The next game is on Monday.

Saturday's game results:

Furman 74
The Citadel 62
Attendance: 1,426

ETSU 79
VMI  85
Attendance: 2,581

Sandford 56
Mercer 80
Attendance: 3,672

Western  43
Wofford  62 
Attendance: 2,012


Current Standings -
1.  Mercer 6-1

2.  (tie)  Chattanooga 5-1
2.  (tie) Wofford 5-1

4.  (tie) ETSU  5-3

5.  (tie)  Furman 3-4
5.  (tie)  The Citadel  3-4
5.  (tie) Western Carolina 3-4

8,  (tie) VMI  3-5
8.  (tie) UNCG  2-4

10. Samford  0-7

Conference RPI  (RealTimeRPI.com)
CAA - 19
Sun Belt - 20
OVC - 24
Southern - 25
Big South - 28
A-Sun - 30

SoCon vs. the Field
CAA........... 0-6
Sun Belt...... 2-1
OVC.............3-1
Big South...10-4
A-Sun...........1-8

SoCon out of conference record: 34 - 62


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Basketball: Today in the SoCon (1-17-15)

Friday, January 15, 2015 

Men's Basketball Games in the Southern Conference.

There is no games schedules today in the Southern Conference.

Thursday's game results:
Wofford at The Citadel -
The Citadel's Ashton Moore scored 29 points Thursday night and led Bulldogs to hand Wofford its first conference loss of the season 69-66.
Attendance: 1,971

Furman at Mercer -
Mercer's Darious Moten scored 16 points, T.J. Hallice added 13 and Ike Nwamu 12 as the Bears beat Furman 67-64 on Thursday night.
Attendance: 2,718 

ETSU at Western Carolina -
ETSU's Jalen Riley scored 31 points as the Bucs beat Western Carolina 83-76 on Thursday. The win marks ETSU's 17th consecutive victory over Western Carolina.
Attendance: 1,794 

Chattanooga at Samford -
Chattanooga's Justin Tuoyo finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds, leading five Chattanooga players in double figures, and the Mocs defeated Samford 82-76 on Thursday night.
Attendance: 1,363

Current Standings -
1.  (tie)  Chattanooga 5-1
1.  (tie)  Mercer 5-1

3.  (tie) Wofford 4-1
3.  (tie) ETSU  5-2

5.  (tie)  The Citadel  3-3
5.  (tie) Western Carolina 3-3

7.  (tie)  Furman 2-4
7.  (tie) UNCG  2-4

9,  VMI  2-5
10. Samford  0-7

Conference RPI  (RealTimeRPI.com)
CAA - 19
Sun Belt - 20
OVC - 24
Southern - 26
Big South - 28
A-Sun - 30

SoCon vs. the Field
CAA........... 0-6
Sun Belt...... 2-1
OVC............3-1
Big South...10-4
A-Sun..........1-8

SoCon out of conference record: 34 - 62


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Basketball: Today in the SoCon (1-15-15)

Thursday, January 14, 2015 

Men's Basketball Games in the Southern Conference.

There is four (4) games schedules today in the Southern Conference.

6:00 pm start time-
Wofford (13-4, 4-0 SoCon) at The Citadel (7-9, 2-3 SoCon) watch on SoCon Digital Network
Terriers by 5

7:00 pm start time-
Furman (4-11, 2-3 SoCon) at Mercer (9-9, 4-1 SoCon) watch on SoCon Digital Network
Bears by 13

ETSU (9-5, 4-2 SoCon) at Western Carolina (8-9, 3-2 SoCon) watch on SoCon Digital Network
Cats by 5

8:00 pm start time-
Chattanooga (11-7, 4-1 SoCon) at Samford (7-12, 0-6 SoCon) watch on SoCon Digital Network
Mocs by 5

Wednesday's game results:-
VMI at UNCG -
UNCG;s Kayel Locke scored 19 points and RJ White had nine with 14 rebounds to help the Spartans beat VMI 75-63 on Wednesday night.


Current Standings -
1.  Wofford 4-0
2.  (tie)  Chattanooga 4-1
2.  (tie)  Mercer 4-1
4.  ETSU  4-2
5.  Western Carolina 3-2
6.  (tie)  The Citadel  2-3
6.  (tie)  Furman 2-3
8.  UNCG  2-4
9,  VMI  2-5
10. Samford  0-6

Conference RPI  (RealTimeRPI.com)
CAA - 19
Sun Belt - 20
OVC - 24
Southern - 25
Big South - 29
A-Sun - 30

SoCon vs. the Field
CAA........... 0-6
Sun Belt...... 2-1
OVC............3-1
Big South...10-4
A-Sun..........1-8

SoCon out of conference record: 34 - 62


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Cats release 2015 Football Schedule

Western Carolina 2015 Catamount Football Schedule:

Sept. 5 - vs. Mars Hill 
Sept. 12 - at The Citadel * - Charleston, S.C.
Sept. 19 - at Tennessee - Knoxville, Tenn.
Sept. 26 - OPEN
Oct. 3 - Presbyterian 
Oct. 10 - Mercer *
Oct. 17 - at Wofford * - Spartanburg, S.C.
Oct. 24 - Samford * (Homecoming)
Oct. 31 - at Chattanooga * - Chattanooga, Tenn.
Nov. 7 - Furman *
Nov. 14 - at Texas A&M - College Station, Texas
Nov. 21 - at VMI * - Lexington, Va.
Nov. 28 - NCAA FCS Playoffs, First Round (TBA)


"We're excited about the 2015 schedule and the big opportunities we have to capitalize on the positive momentum from the 2014 season," said head coach Mark Speir. "We get to open up our season at home against Mars Hill before opening our conference slate against The Citadel in a tough early-season match-up. Then, we have our first of two opportunities against teams out of the SEC, playing an opponent that's just 90 miles west of us at Tennessee. Our players are really looking forward to the opportunity to play in Neyland Stadium."

"We have a tough Southern Conference schedule and then another opportunity to go out to College Station, Texas, to play in a renovated and expanded Kyle Field. Overall, getting that kind of exposure against a SEC team twice in a season is really exciting for our program, our players and our fans," Speir added.



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Basketball: Today in the SoCon (1-14-15)

Wednesday, January 14, 2015 

Men's Basketball Games in the Southern Conference.

Only one game is scheduled today in the Southern Conference.

7:00 pm game time-
VMI (6-11, 2-4 SoCon) at UNCG (5-13, 1-4 SoCon) watch on the SoCon Digital Network
Keydets by 2 points


Saturday's game results:-
UNCG at Western Carolina -
Western's Mike Brown scored a career-high 27 points as Western Carolina sealed an 82-72 victory over cold-shooting UNC Greensboro on Saturday.
Attendance: 1,124

Chattanooga at ETSU -
UTC's Casey Jones hit a 3-pointer with 2 seconds left in overtime to lift the Mocs over ETSU, 74-71 on Saturday.
Attendance: 3,605

VMI at Furman -
VMI's QJ Peterson scored 18 points to fuel a second-half push as the Keydets pulled away to score an 83-73 victory at Furman Saturday.
Attendance: 1,701 

The Citadel  at Mercer -
Mercer's Phillip Leonard scored 13 points, grabbed five rebounds and had eight assists to help Mercer beat The Citadel 74-51 on Saturday.
Attendance: 4,027

Samford at Wofford -
Wofford's Karl Cochran scored 17 points, Spencer Collins added 16 as the Terriers rallied to beat Samford 72-62 on Saturday.
Attendance: 1,883

Current Standings -
1.  Wofford 4-0
2.  (tie)  Chattanooga 4-1
2.  (tie)  Mercer 4-1
4.  ETSU  4-2
5.  Western Carolina 3-2
6.  (tie)  The Citadel  2-3
6.  (tie)  Furman 2-3
8,  VMI  2-4
9.  UNCG  1-4
10. Samford  0-6

Conference RPI  (RealTimeRPI.com)
CAA - 19
Sun Belt - 20
OVC - 24
Southern - 25
Big South - 29
A-Sun - 30

SoCon vs. the Field
CAA........... 0-6
Sun Belt...... 2-1
OVC............3-1
Big South...10-4
A-Sun..........1-8

SoCon out of conference record: 34 - 62


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SoCon Basketball Power Rankings (1-12-15)

Welcome to Purple & Gold's SoCon Basketball Power Rankings for the week of January 12, 2015.

Each week, on Tuesday, we will bring you our power rankings for Southern Conference basketball.



 1.  (1)  Wofford 
 Record: 13-4 (4-0 SoCon)


2.  (3)  Chattanooga 
Record: 11-7 (4-1 SoCon)


3.  (2)  East Tennessee State 
Record: 8-5 (4-2 SoCon)


4.  (4) Mercer 
Record: 9-9 (4-1)


5.  (5) Western Carolina 
Record: 8-9 (3-2 SoCon)


6.  (6) Virginia Military Institute 
Record: 6-11 (1-3 SoCon)


7.  (10) Samford 
Record: 7-12 (0-6 SoCon)

8.  (9) The Citadel 
Record: 7-9 (2-3 SoCon)

9.  (7) Furman 
Record: 4-11 (2-3 SoCon)


10.  (8) UNCG 
Record: 5-13 (1-4 SoCon)

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Sinclair Reinstated

This is the statement released by the Western Carolina Athletic Department.

"Based on the results of an internal review conducted as part of standard operating procedures that are independent of the Western Carolina Department of Intercollegiate Athletics and that are applicable to all university students, the eligibility of Catamount men's basketball senior James Sinclair has been reinstated effective immediately.

After conferring with the associate commissioner for NCAA compliance at the Southern Conference, university officials have determined that Sinclair is now eligible to travel and compete with the team during the spring semester.

Through routine academic processes that are in place for all students, university officials discovered that Sinclair failed to follow proper protocol for repeating an academic course. University officials determined through normal review processes that a course he had taken on two occasions had been counted twice in calculating his grade-point average, when it should have been counted only once.

As a result, the student-athlete is now eligible under NCAA regulations to participate fully as a member of the men's basketball team.

On Saturday, Jan. 10, Sinclair was ruled, per NCAA standards, academically ineligible to compete as a member of the basketball team or travel to away games, although he remained enrolled in school and eligible to participate with the team in practices and other activities."



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ETSU (Game #18)

Game Day: Thursday

Date: January 15, 2015 

Time: 7:00 p.m. ET

Location: Ramsey Center (7,826), Cullowhee, NC 

Radio: Catamount Sports Network

TV / Video: SoCon Digital 

Network

On Thursday, ETSU will be in Cullowhee to play the Catamounts for the second time this season.

Back on December 3d, the Catamounts welcomed the Bucs back into SoCon basketball, with the gift of a loss to the Bucs, by a 96-89 margin. The Cats are 23-43 all time against the Bucs, and 14-18 in games played in Cullowhee.

Western currently is in the midst of a sixteen (16) game losing streak to ETSU, and the Bucs are 4-3 in road games this season..

The Bucs are averaging 78 points this season, hitting 43% of their field goal attempts, placing ETSU in second place in the SoCon in scoring offense. At the free throw line, ETSU has a team average of 72% (16,7 ppg) and is hitting 40% of their three-point attempts (10.9 ppg).  Three Bucs are currently averaging double-digit scoring, with Jalen Riley leading the way with a 20.4 point average.  Rashawn Rembert is hitting 16.8 points per game, and Lester Wilson is contributing 14.1 points per game.  Just outside of the double digit range is AJ Merriweather with 9.1 points per game.

In game one earlier this season between the two teams, Jalen Riley scored 31 points, and the Bucs got 22 points from senior guard Rashawn Rembert, 17 from junior forward Lester Wilson and 16 from sophomore guard A.J. Merriweather.  ETSU finished the game shooting 50 percent from 3-point range (15-of-30) and 75 percent from the foul line (27-of-36), while the Cats hit 47 percent from 3-point range in the second half. The Catamounts outscored the Bucs 32-18 in the paint, but ETSU held a 37-12 advantage in points off the bench.


ETSU Probable Starters 
Petey McClain, junior guard - 6'0" 185 lbs - 2.1 ppg
Rashawn Rembert, senior guard - 6'3" 195 lbs - 16.8 ppg
A,J. Merriweather, sophomore guard - 6'2" 185 lbs - 9.1 ppg
Lester Wilson, junior forward, 6'4" 215 lbs - 14.1 ppg
Alex Bates, senior forward, 6'9" 235 lbs - 2.4 ppg

Chart Courtesy Daily Catamount

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Basketball: Today in the SoCon (1-11-15)

Sunday, January 11, 2015 

Men's Basketball Games in the Southern Conference.

No games are scheduled until Wednesday, Jan. 13th

Thursday's game results:-
UNCG at Western Carolina -
Western's Mike Brown scored a career-high 27 points as Western Carolina sealed an 82-72 victory over cold-shooting UNC Greensboro on Saturday.
Attendance: 1,124

Chattanooga at ETSU -
UTC's Casey Jones hit a 3-pointer with 2 seconds left in overtime to lift the Mocs over ETSU, 74-71 on Saturday.
Attendance: 3,605

VMI at Furman -
VMI's QJ Peterson scored 18 points to fuel a second-half push as the Keydets pulled away to score an 83-73 victory at Furman Saturday.
Attendance: 1,701 

The Citadel  at Mercer -
Mercer's Phillip Leonard scored 13 points, grabbed five rebounds and had eight assists to help Mercer beat The Citadel 74-51 on Saturday.
Attendance: 4,027

Samford at Wofford -
Wofford's Karl Cochran scored 17 points, Spencer Collins added 16 as the Terriers rallied to beat Samford 72-62 on Saturday.
Attendance: 1,883

Current Standings -
1.  Wofford 4-0
2.  (tie)  Chattanooga 4-1
2.  (tie)  Mercer 4-1
4.  ETSU  4-2
5.  Western Carolina 3-2
6.  (tie)  The Citadel  2-3
6.  (tie)  Furman 2-3
8,  VMI  2-4
9.  UNCG  1-4
10. Samford  0-6

Conference RPI  (RealTimeRPI.com)
CAA - 19
Sun Belt - 21
OVC - 24
Southern - 26
A-Sun - 28
Big South - 29

SoCon vs. the Field
CAA........... 0-6
Sun Belt...... 2-1
OVC............3-1
Big South...10-4
A-Sun..........1-8

SoCon out of conference record: 34 - 62


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