SoCon MBB (Jan 27)

There were two upsets in the SoCon tonight, as Wofford handles Furman in Sparkle City, and the Mercer Bears traveled to the Piedmont of North Carolina and upset the UNCG Spartans in the Greensboro Coliseum.  In the other three games, Chattanooga easily took care of the visiting Bulldogs from Charleston while The Cats posted 102 points to beat the Keydets in Cullowhee. Samford had a more difficult time in Johnson City as the upset minded Bucs almost pulled it off, but the other Bulldogs pulled out a 3 point win on the road. 

The Citadel 62 - Chattanooga 90
Sophomore guard Honor Huff posted 19 points to lead the Mocs to a 90-62 victory oveer the Citadel Bulldogs on Saturday.  Sam Alexis scored 17 points and added five rebounds for Chattanooga and Jan Zidek put up13 points and shot 5 for 7, including 3 for 5 from beyond the arc.  Keynan Davis led the way for the Bulldogs with 18 points. Citadel also got 14 points from AJ Smith, and Elijah Morgan scored 13 points and seven rebounds in the loss.

Samford 75 - ETSU 72
The Bulldogs picked up a road victory today in Johnson City with a 75-72 win over the Bucs.   ETSU's Nathan Johnson hit a game high 18 points in the Samford victory.  Johnson shot 6 for 7 fieldgoals while hitting 4 for 4 from 3-point range.  He also made 2 of 3 from the free throw line. Jaden Campbell added 12 points and had seven rebounds. Gabe Sisk led the way for the Buccaneers with 15 points and six rebounds, while Ebby Asamoah put up15 points for ETSU. Quimari Peterson also had 12 points and three steals. With the game tied a 62 all at the 4:08 time  remaining in the game, Samford's Rayland Jones hit a 3-pointer and the Bulldgs led the rest of the way.

VMI 77  -   Western Carolina 102
Breaking a three game losing streak, the Catamount rushed to an early lead, and never looked back. Western's Russell Jones posted a game high 22 points in Western Carolina's 102-77, he also had four rebounds, three steals and three assists. Vonterius Woolbright completed his second triple-double of the season with 18 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 assists as he continues to lead the nation in double-doubles with nineteen. DJ Campbell scored 20 points while going 9 of 14 from the field, and added six rebounds. Tre Jackson shot 6 for 12, including 5 for 11 from beyond the arc to finish with 19 points.  VMI's Brennan Watkins also finished with 22 points for the Keydets while Tyran Cook added 20 points, six rebounds and two steals.  

Furman 67  -   Wofford 77
The defending SoCon champions Paladins traveled the short distance to rival Wofford, confident of departing with a victory, after all they had just defeated Western Carolina and Samford in back to back games. Sometimes we are too overconfident as Corey Tripp posted a team high 20 points in Wofford's 77-67 victory. Kyler Filewich scored 17 points and added 10 rebounds, while Jackson Sivills put up 14 points, while adding six rebounds. Furman's Marcus Foster led the way for the Paladins with a 22 points and 10 rebounds. The loss ended a five-game winning streak for the Paladins.  The Terriers jumped out to an early 17-6 lead over the Paladins and never relinquished it, while the Paladins did pull as close as 29-31 near the end of the first half, Wofford build a 56-51 lead with about 5 minutes remaining in the second half. 

Mercer 70 -  UNCG  64
In the night's second upset, the Mercer Bears traveled to Greensboro, and upsed the UNCG Spartans in the Greensboro Colusieum where the Spartans were 13-0 this season. Tird with Samford coming into this game for first place in the standings, the Spartans expected to easily handle the visiting Bears who held done the #8 position in the conference standings.  Mercer pulled ahead 29-27 with a little over 4 minutes remaining in the 1st half, and maintained that lead the remainder of the game. The Spartans pulled within 3 points 64-67 at the 1:54 mark of the second half, but the Bears were able to hold the off.  Jalyn McCreary came off the bench to lead Bears with 15 points, while Mikeal
Brown-Jones led the Spartans with 19 points and 16 rebounds in the loss.