SoCon MBB (12-31-22)

Highlights from Saturday's SoCon games:

In each conference game Saturday, the home team lost except for one. That win was an upset of the preseason number one pick, Furman Paladin in Cullowhee. What a great day for the Catamounts....


Samford 75 - The Citadel 63
The Samford Men's Basketball Team knocked down a season-high 29 free throws and out-rebounded The Citadel 42-27 in its 75-63 Southern Conference victory on Saturday. With the win, the Bulldogs improve to 8-7 overall and 2-0 in SoCon action to sit atop the league standings. The Citadel drops to 6-8 overall and 1-1 in league play. Four different players scored in double figures, with Logan Dye notching a game-high with 20 points on a 7-9 shooting night. The senior forward also hauled in eight rebounds and went 5-6 from the free-throw line. Jermaine Marshall logged his first double-double of the season with a 13-point, 10-rebound effort. Nathan Johnson finished with 13 points and four boards while Jaron Rillie registered 11 points and five rebounds in addition to sinking all nine of his free-throw attempts.

ETSU 54 - VMI 50
ETSU men’s basketball closed out 2022 with a bang! Five Buccaneers scored at least eight points with Jalen Haynes (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) finishing with a game-high 15 points as ETSU secured a 64-50 win at VMI on Saturday inside Cameron Hall. For the second time this season ETSU has won back-to-back games as the Bucs improved to 6-9 on the campaign and 2-0 in Southern Conference play. VMI suffered its fourth straight loss and dipped to 5-10, 0-2. ETSU has won 24 of the last 26 meetings against the Keydets and leads the all-time series, 55-15. The Blue and Gold used their stifling defense to come away with the victory as ETSU held VMI 26 points below its season average.

Chattanooga 89 - Mercer 51
The Chattanooga Mocs men's basketball snapped its three-game skid with a dominating 80-51 Southern Conference victory over Mercer inside Hawkins Arena in Macon, Ga., Saturday afternoon. Following the win, Chattanooga improves to 9-6 overall and evens its SoCon record to 1-1. Mercer falls to 7-8 overall and 0-2 inside league play. The 29-point margin of victory marks the fourth-largest SoCon road victory in program history and is the largest since a 93-66 (27) victory at Western Carolina back on January 16, 1993. UTC outscored Mercer 45-29 in the second half and held the Bears to a 1-of-15 (6.7%) mark from deep during the contest.

UNCG 73 - Wofford 64
Keondre Kennedy and Keyshaun Langley paced the UNC Greensboro (UNCG) men's basketball team with 19 and 16 points, respectively, in a 73-64 victory over Wofford Saturday afternoon at the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium. This is the first time since the 2019-20 season that the Spartans are starting 2-0 in Southern Conference (SoCon) play. UNCG kept its distance in double figures until 47-seconds left when Wofford was able to cut the deficit to nine, 58-67, following an 11-2 run. The two teams traded baskets for the remaining time and the Spartans took home its second-straight SoCon win, 73-64.

Furman 67 - Western Carolina 79
Tre Jackson led four players in double figures with 17 points and Vonterius Woolbright recorded a team-best eight rebounds and eight assists along with 14 points as Western Carolina used a dominant second half to defeat Furman 79-67 on Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center on Saturday afternoon. WCU improves to 8-7 with the win and 1-1 in the Southern Conference. The victory also snaps a 13-game series losing streak to the Paladins. Furman drops to 10-5 and 1-1. Jackson's 17-point performance came after he went 6-for-10 from the field and 5-for-9 behind the 3-point line. Russell Jones Jr added 15 points as he also made six shots from the field. Woolbright narrowly missed a triple-double with his 14-point, eight rebound, and eight assist effort. Bernard Pelote added 14 points and a career-best eight rebounds off the bench.