SoCon MBB games

The SoCon had a good day, winning 3 of the 4 out of conference games, and Western only losing my 2 points.  UNCG looked as good as advertised against Little Rock, and Mercer beat instate, ACC foe Georgia Tech.  ETSU also picked up their first win in a game over Middle Tenn.  

Brief recaps of the games......

VMI hung with Penn State the first half, and State was up only 37-35 at halftime, then trailed by a point, 45-44 with 15:26 to play following a 3-pointer by Kamdyn Curfman. The Nittany Lions then reeled off nine points  to take control of the game, as Izaiah Brockington had six of his 15 points points in the surge.
 Three players added 12 points for Penn State, which shot 51% in the second half and hit seven 3-pointers.  Greg Parham led the Keydets (1-1) with 21 points and Curfman had 17, hitting five 3s.


Mike Bothwell of Furman had 24 points as the Paladins easily beat South Carolina Upstate 91-63 on Saturday.
 Alex Hunter added 22 points and six rebounds Furman, who's now 2-0 on the season. Jalen Slawson added 10 points, while Marcus Foster added six rebounds. Clay Mounce who averaged 23.0 points per game coming into the game, was held to only nine points on 4-of-10 shooting.


Wofford's Nick Pringle scored 17 points and pulled down 11 rebounds for his first double-double as the Terriers rolled over Carver College 111-37 on Saturday.
 Storm Murphy added 16 points, while Sam Godwin posted 15 and had had seven rebounds. Pringle shot 8 for 10 from the field. Messiah Jones scored 14 points for Wofford who are also 2-0 on the season.


Trailing by 20 points with just over 15 minutes to play, the UNC Asheville men's basketball team mounted a furious rally to force overtime, coming up just short to Western Carolina 83-81. The Cats scored the first four points of overtime, but Cork fouled out and draw a technical, allowing UNC Asheville to trim the lead to two. Western Carolina's Matt Halvorsen came alive in the last minute of the game, knocking down two 3-pointers that gave the Catamounts just enough for the win.
  "It's two years in a row, that we just needed a stop and didn't get it," said UNCA head coach Mike Morrell said of the matchup. "It's frustrating and unfortunate, but that doesn't take away from the fact that we are really proud of our guys. This rivalry is a lot of fun."

Not such a good day for the SoCon as hoped, one loss and one postponement for a 0-1 day in out-of-conference play. 

The Samford "Bucky Ball" did not launch today as was hoped by the Samford fans.  Alabama A&M's Jalen Johnson put up a career-high 28 points, and sophomore Cameron Tucker converted a go-ahead, three-point play with five seconds left to help A&M Bulldogs defeat Samford 78-76.
 Garrett Hicks had 18 points and eight rebounds for Alabama A&M in the opener for the Bulldogs.  Christian Guess scored a Samford game high 22 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for Samford.  Logan Dye scored a career-high 21 points and had seven rebounds, and Myron Gordon had 16 points.


The UNCG vs. Winthrop in Louisville has been postponed due to Covid 19 concerns.  

This turned out to be a very good day for the SoCon, picking up 3 wins.  The Cats, as expected, dominated the Piedmont Lions, Chattanooga squeezed by the Golden Eagles to go 2-0 on the season, and Mercer beat Georgia State to complete the sweep of the DI schools located in the City of Atlanta by an 86-59 final score.  

After staying closer than the Cats would like in the first half, Piedmont fell behind as the Catamounts went on a 21-0 run over a 7 minute stretch for a 70-41 lead. The Lions would get no closer than 35 the rest of the way.  Senior Matt Halvorsen entered Monday's home opener against the Lions  needing 9 points to reach the 1,000-career point milestone. Halvorsen surpassed the milestone with 20 points to lead four Catamounts in double figures in a 96-58 victory over the NCAA Division III Lions.

The Mocs traveled to Cookeville, TN to face the Golden Eagles and improved to 2-0 on the year with a 62-54 win at Tennessee Tech. UTC sophomore Malachi Smith led the Mocs scoring 15 points and pulling down 14 boards to go with five steals for his second double double in as many games. The Mocs closed out the game with a 14-2 run that put it out of reach of the Golden Eagles.

Georgia State was ranked No. 6 in the College Insider Mid-Major Poll, but turned out to be no match for the Mercer Bears. The Bears hit an impressive 48% (32-of-67) shots from the field, including 11-of-26 attempts from beyond the 3-point arc. Mercer was consistent from three-point range in both halves, going 5-of-13 in the opening 20 minutes and 6-of-13 in the second half. The Bears did struggle from the free throw line, making only 11 of their 20 tries.