Two years ago, the Wofford Terriers’ men’s basketball program had never, ever made the NCAA Tournament. Now, the sons of Spartanburg, South Carolina own back-to-back appearances in the Big Dance. These are heady times for a program that has so clearly shown how ready it is to bust some more brackets in March.

Showing more poise and precision in the most meaningful moments of competition, Wofford produced a virtually flawless second half to outplay a game but underequipped College of Charleston crew in the championship game of the Southern Conference Tournament at McKenzie Arena. Behind 21 points from Cameron Rundles and 20 more from Noah Dahlman, the Terriers used a pair of Minnesota-bred recruits to outfox the white fox, Charleston coach Bobby Cremins, who was attempting to guide the Cougars into the NCAAs for the first time since 1999.

Just how mature was Wofford’s performance in a high-level game that was razor-close until the Terriers opened up an eight-point cushion (72-64) with 2:25 left? For one thing, the Terriers scored on six of their last seven possessions, with the final possession being reserved for running out the clock with a 10-point lead. Wofford scored on 12 of its last 15 possessions, again counting that meaningless (and celebratory) final trip down the floor, a trip that ended with Dahlman – part of the team’s “Minnesota Mafia” – throwing the ball into the rafters in wild jubilation.

Here’s another look inside Wofford’s nerves of steel: While it’s true that multiple Charleston players got into foul trouble, thereby making the Cougars a necessarily more tentative defensive team, the fact still remains that Wofford had to stick a number of perimeter jumpers down the stretch. Rundles was the man who kept driving daggers into the hearts of the Charleston players, who played a solid game but were simply eclipsed by a better team that knew how to close the sale. Rundles kept pumping in shots with icy consistency, preventing the C of C from using defense as a catalyst for a game-changing run akin to what it produced in Sunday’s semifinal escape against Furman.

Yes, Wofford smelled the familiar aroma of championship glory, and when the prize was in sight, the Terriers pounced like a savvy hunter that knows what it wants and how it needs to get it. Indeed, one year after winning its first SoCon tournament title, Wofford regained that winning edge all weekend long in Chattanooga. Monday night was just the culmination of a dominant run that appeared to be very much in evidence during the Terriers’ easy semifinal conquest of North Division champion Western Carolina. To put an exclamation point on this obvious yet undeniably important theme concerning Wofford’s poise, the Terriers did not miss a foul shot until the final minute of regulation. Coach Mike Young’s team hit its first 20 foul shots while Charleston missed 7 of its 20 attempts. That seven-point differential represented a defining point of distinction in this contest, as did Charleston’s loss of senior forward Jeremy Simmons due to blood clots.

The Cougars, shorthanded and outgunned, did not play a poor game. Once more with feeling, Wofford simply excelled when all the poker chips were on the table. The Terriers now have a chance to make life miserable for a high seed next week in the NCAA Tournament.

Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer

In case you haven’t noticed, the top seeds in small-conference tournaments are tumbling one by one. The College of Charleston fought bravely and savagely on Sunday night in an attempt to avoid the trend that has swept through the college basketball community. After 40 minutes and not one second less, the Cougars’ determination and persistence were handsomely rewarded.

In a game that started slowly but finished with a flourish, the College of Charleston defeated the Furman Paladins in the semifinals of the 2011 Southern Conference Tournament on Sunday night. The Cougars will face the defending conference champion Wofford Terriers in the SoCon Tournament championship game on Monday night from McKenzie Arena in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

The score was tied at 12 after 12 minutes, and Furman led by four at the half (29-25), its largest lead to that point. Regular-season league MVP Andrew Goudelock had 13 of Charleston’s 25 points at the break, and Furman leading scorer Amu Saaka posted only two of Furman’s 29 points. The Paladins nailed only 9 of 27 attempts in the first half, and the Cougars hit just 7 of 25 attempts. Teams who played nighttime quarterfinals the day before were leg-weary, and the first-half action revealed as much.

In the second half, though, the scent of a spot in the SoCon final began to invigorate each side. First, Furman started fast and jumped to an 11-point lead, at 46-35, with 11 minutes left in the game behind a fast-breaking, outside-shooting offense. Charleston head coach Bobby Cremins reportedly instructed his Cougars to stand tall and play with confidence at that point, and the Charleston squad responded with a 14-3 run to tie the score at 51 with seven minutes remaining. Moments later, the regular-season champion in the SoCon added four more points to extend the run to 18-3 and take a 55-51 edge. Although it never led by more than five points, and despite Furman’s ability to pull within a basket more than once in the closing minutes, Charleston never lost the lead for the remainder of the game.

Goudelock led the Cougar comeback with 31 points and seven rebounds. Instructively, Goudelock cleaned up his game during the C of C’s rally; the turnovers that crept into his game for the first 30 minutes of the night were eradicated down the stretch. Trent Wiedeman’s strong inside presence was felt on the floor for Charleston as well. The unheralded post player outfought Furman for 50-50 balls in the final 10 minutes of regulation, and that’s a big reason why the Paladins went several minutes without a field goal during the Cougars’ decisive 18-3 run. Wiedeman finished with 10 points and 12 very big rebounds to give Charleston more possessions at crunch time, setting the table for Goudelock to work his magic.

Jordan Miller led the 10 players that scored for the Paladins in a hard-fought battle. The young man produced 11 points. Saaka had 10 points and 9 rebounds for Jeff Jackson’s team in its third game in as many days. One could say that Furman’s three-games-in-three-days schedule caught up with the Paladins in the final minutes, but then again, Furman looked pretty fresh and confident when it led by 11 with 11 minutes to go. Charleston was about to join Florida Atlantic, Missouri State, Vermont, Fairfield, and a bunch of other teams as the latest top seed to lose in a conference tournament, but the Cougars dug very, very deep to avoid that fate. Tired legs didn’t lose this game for Furman; Charleston’s effort and pride truly made the difference.

Charleston swept its championship opponent Wofford in both of the teams’ games this season, 77-73 in Spartanburg, S.C., and 79-54 at home in Charleston. The game is at 9:05 p.m. Eastern tonight on ESPN2.

Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer

The message sent by the Wofford Terriers over the past two days at the Southern Conference Tournament is plainly apparent: Once a team learns how to nail down a championship, it is much easier to rise to the occasion in a pressure-packed setting. A team that wobbled in the earlier part of its college basketball season is now playing the best basketball in its own neck of the woods.

Wofford will be returning to the Southern Conference championship game on Monday in an attempt to repeat as league champion after dispatching the Western Carolina Catamounts on Sunday night. Wofford laid waste to a higher-seeded opponent, storming to a relatively easy double-digit win and putting itself in position to reach the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back seasons. With just one more win in the SoCon final, Wofford will affirm its place as one of the SoCon’s better teams in recent memory. What the College of Charleston became in the late 1990s and Davidson proved to be in the Stephen Curry years is what Wofford is on the verge of becoming. It’s all because a talented team smells the familiar scent of the finish line at McKenzie Arena in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

The Terriers have improved throughout the course of the season: Nine of their 12 losses came before the middle of January, but the sons of Spartanburg, South Carolina, entered the SoCon tournament on a seven-game winning streak, including impressive wins at Chattanooga and Furman to end the regular season. It’s clear that the postseason has only enhanced Wofford’s winning ways. This team is breathing confidence in every aspect of competition.

Wofford played like a defending champion, displaying poise and determination, while the Catamounts simply appeared beaten and dispirited. Terrier head coach Mike Young, in his 22nd year as a part of the Wofford program (his eighth as head coach) will be looking for his second conference title.

The Catamounts jumped to an early five-point lead, but Wofford found the hot hand and hit 59 percent of its shots in the first half, and 54 percent for the game to knock off the North division top seed. Noah Dahlman scored 18 points with a strong inside presence to lead the Terriers, followed by Cameron Rundles and Jamar Diggs with 17 points (Diggs added seven rebounds). Wofford out-rebounded Western Carolina 37 to 27. Wofford led by as many as 16 points in the waning moments of regulation time. The third seed from the South Division (which clearly established superiority to the North in this tournament) delivered a decisive second half in which it ran roughshod through Western Carolina’s overwhelmed defense.

Mike Williams led the Catamounts with 25 points, hitting 11 of his 22 attempts from the field. Harouna Mutombo had 17 points and 11 rebounds for Western Carolina as well. Those were both impressive efforts when viewed in isolation, but WCU’s team performance was sorely lacking against the well-oiled precision of the Wofford attack. Western Carolina’s head coach, Larry Hunter, missed a milestone 600th career victory with the disappointing loss for his team, which caught and passed Chattanooga in the North race, only to come crashing to earth in this one-sided semifinal.

Wofford will play the College of Charleston in the conference championship on Monday night at 9:05 p.m. Eastern. The game will be televised on ESPN2.

Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer

Chattanooga, TN

TOP STORY:

(3S) Furman 61, (N2) Chattanooga 52

This was by far the most significant and anticipated of the day’s four quarterfinals at McKenzie Arena, and it left the hometown audience in a state of shock.

The Chattanooga Mocs, who won this event when they hosted it in 2009, figured to ride home-court advantage into a highly-anticipated semifinal showdown against the league’s regular-season champion, the College of Charleston. However, there was legitimate reason to worry in the Mocs’ camp. Chattanooga had dropped five of its previous seven games and was not the same team it had been in the month of January, when it surged to a healthy three-game lead in the Southern Conference’s North Division. It was certainly possible that Chattanooga wouldn’t be able to revive itself against the Furman Paladins, a team that finished with the same record as the Mocs in league play (12-6). This was a quarterfinal game that owned the feel and stature of a semifinal. Nevertheless, Chattanooga was playing a tournament game during “Championship Week” on its own floor. That’s supposed to count for a lot, but on Saturday evening, it didn’t matter at all.

Furman delighted its coach, Jeff Jackson, by sprinting to a 15-3 lead out of the box and never looking back. Chattanooga, guided by coach John Shulman, narrowed the gap to 43-40 with 8:47 left in regulation, but that’s when the Mocs withered on the vine. Chattanooga didn’t score in the next four minutes and 50 seconds, and as a result, Furman boosted its lead back to 13 points at 53-40 with four minutes to go. Chattanooga’s shooting numbers – in its own building, keep in mind – were horrible across all categories. The Mocs hit just 16 of 51 field goals, 5 of 20 3-pointers, and 15 of 29 foul shots. Furman’s defense obviously had a lot to do with this game, but 14 missed free throws aren’t ordinarily overcome in postseason basketball games against evenly-matched opposition. Chattanooga never made a credible charge in the final minutes, and now, there will be no home-court advantage in the semifinal round. The College of Charleston should welcome Furman’s presence; the Cougars won’t have to play a de facto road game in Sunday’s semifinals. That’s why this was the biggest of the four quarterfinals; it just shifted the balance of power in the 2011 Southern Conference Tournament.

Other Quarterfinal Games

(1S) College of Charleston 78, (4N) Elon 60

Though forced to play the final game of the day in Chattanooga, the top seed not only in the South Division, but the league as a whole, took care of business and earned the right to play Furman in Sunday’s second semifinal. The Cougars jumped on top of the Phoenix and rolled to a 43-22 halftime lead. Charleston hit 51 percent of its field goal attempts and waxed Elon on the boards, 38-23. This needed to be a low-energy game for Charleston because of the late tip-off and the accordingly short turnaround time for Sunday’s semifinals. The C of C and coach Bobby Cremins attained that goal by preserving a double-digit lead throughout the second half.

(1N) Western Carolina 77, (5N) UNC-Greensboro 66

The Western Carolina Catamounts overtook Chattanooga for the top seed in the North Division, and the fruits of that prize were tasted on Saturday. Instead of playing the third seed from the tougher South Division on Saturday, the Catamounts got the fifth seed from the North Division, the UNC-Greensboro Spartans. The disparity in quality was evident. Yes, UNCG outrebounded WCU by a 44-29 margin, but Western Carolina hit shots – 47 percent of all field goals and 9 of 17 three’s – to coast to the finish line. Four Catamounts finished with double-figure point totals, led by Harouna Mutombo, who scored 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting.

(S2) Wofford 69, (N3) Appalachian State 56

The Wofford Terriers, the team that tied Charleston for the best record in the Southern Conference this season (14-4, but behind the C of C due to a loss in the head-to-head tiebreaker), re-asserted itself on Saturday with a relatively stress-free win over the Appalachian State Mountaineers. Wofford broke open a tight game with a defensive clinic as the second half wore on. From the 12:58 mark of the second half until the 3:58 mark – a span of nine minutes – Wofford allowed only three points to the frustrated Mountaineers. By that time, the Terriers owned a 61-47 lead, and that was all she wrote. Noah Dahlman scored 21 points on 9-of-15 shooting to lead the way for coach Mike Young’s men.

Sunday Schedule – Day Three

Semifinals

Chattanooga, TN

Semifinal No. 1, 6:05 p.m. ET: (2S) Wofford vs. (1N) Western Carolina

Semifinal No. 2, approx. 30 minutes after the end of Game 1:

(3S) Furman vs. (1S) College of Charleston

Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer

(5N) UNC-Greensboro 71 – (4S) Davidson 64

UNCG started the season 0-15, and didn’t notch a victory until it won at Appalachian State on January 13, but the 6-12 Spartans stunned an ice-cold Davidson squad in the Southern Conference Tournament opener on Friday.

The Wildcats never led in the game, shooting an abhorrent 16 percent from the field in the first half, trailing 32-24 at the break, and only 24 percent (18 for 75) in the game. The Spartans hit 46 percent of their shots, led by Trevis Simpson with 15 points and 10 rebounds. All of UNCG’s nine players to hit the floor scored in the game. Davidson was led by Brendan McKillup with 14 points on 4-of-11 3-point shooting.

The Spartans will meet the top seed from the North, Western Carolina, in Saturday’s first quarterfinal. The Catamounts from Cullowhee, N.C., swept UNCG in the regular season, winning 83-73 at home, and 70-66 in Greensboro.

(3N) Appalachian State 65 – (6S) Georgia Southern 57

Appalachian State wasn’t able to maintain a lead until less than 10 minutes remained in the game, but was able to build an eight-point margin and hold on for a crucial first-round win over the Eagles. Georgia Southern, albeit in a losing cause, out-rebounded the Mountaineers 29-28.

Ben Drayton III led the Bulldogs with 16 points, Jelani Hewitt had 15, and Marvin Baynham had 13 in the losing effort. The Mountaineers were led by Donald Sims with 20 points, Omar Carter with 14, and Petey Hausley with 11.

Appalachian State will take on the South Division’s second seed, Wofford, in the quarterfinals on Saturday – the Terriers won the teams’ only meeting this season, 74-65.

(3S) Furman 61 – (6N) Samford 48

Furman never trailed in the game, and led the Bulldogs by as many as 20 points in the third first-round game at the McKenzie Arena on Friday. Out-shooting the Bulldogs 46 to 35 percent, and out-rebounding Samford 28-20, the Paladins dominated every major statistic in this game, and it wasn’t as close as the final score indicates.

The Paladins were led by Jordan Miller with 23 points, and Brandon Sebirumbi with 10. Furman will take on the host Chattanooga Mocs in the third quarterfinal on Saturday. The teams split their home-and-home series this season, with the Paladins defeating the Mocs 85-59 during Chattanooga’s late season meltdown.

(4N) Elon 85 – (5S) The Citadel 74

The Citadel was able to keep the last first-round game of the tournament close for the first half, shooting 50 percent from the field to limit their halftime deficit to seven points, but Elon wore the Bulldogs down in the second half, leading by as many as 16 points with six minutes left in the game before winning 85-74.

Both teams shot well in the game, with the Phoenix hitting 51.9 percent of its shots to the Bulldogs’ 44.1 percent. The Citadel was led by Austin Dahn with 20 points, Cameron Wells with 19, and Zach Urbanus with 18 points. Mike Groselle has 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Bulldogs. Elon was led by Chris Long with 21 points and 10 assists. Jack Isenbarger came off the bench to add 16 points, Drew Spradlin had 15, and Ryley Beaumont contributed 14 points for the Phoenix.

The Phoenix will meet the top seed in the South – College of Charleston – in the nightcap on Saturday. The Cougars won the only meeting between the teams this season, 85-67 at Elon.
David Minter
DFN Sports Staff Writer

The top two seeds in each division receive a first round bye, with Chattanooga and Western Carolina earning the nod in the North, and College of Charleston and Wofford getting the extra day of rest in the South. The tournament will return to the Asheville (N.C.) Civic Center for a three-year run next year, in a move to a centrally located neutral site.

All Games Played at McKenzie Arena in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

All Games Streamed on SoConTV at soconsports.com in addition to broadcasts noted.

Seeds are for the Southern Division (S) and Northern Division (N)

First Round

Friday, 2:00 ET: (4S) Davidson vs. (5N) UNCG

The Davidson Wildcats will spar with the UNC-Greensboro Spartans in the first game of the tournament. Despite the Wildcats winning 10 of the last 11 meetings between the teams, this season was a split, with UNCG winning at home, 77-69, and Davidson claiming the victory in the final game of the season, 78-67. The Wildcats could be a dangerous opponent in this tournament, with a 10-8 record; the Cats have won eight of their last nine conference games.

Friday, Approx. 4:30 ET: (3N) Appalachian State vs. (6S) Georgia Souther

Georgia Southern’s Eagles are just 1-17 in league play this season, and face a strong Appalachian State Mountaineer squad with a 10-8 record and a three-game winning streak. The Mountaineers won the only meeting between the teams, in Boone N.C., 79-51. Appalachian State last won the SoCon Tournament in 2000.

Friday, 7:00 ET: (3S) Furman vs. (6N) Samford

The Furman Paladins notched 20 wins this season and a conference mark of 12-6, although they did drop their last two games against Chattanooga and Wofford. The Samford Bulldogs won only four league games this year, and lost both games against the Paladins this season. A Samford victory would be an enormous upset in this tournament.

Friday, Approx. 9:30 ET: (4N) Elon vs. (5S) The Citadel

The Citadel Bulldogs with take on the Elon Phoenix in the Friday nightcap. The Citadel has lost six of its last eight conference games, and is 6-12 in league play this year. The Bulldogs have never won the Southern Conference Tournament, and have only 11 tournament wins in its history. The Phoenix bring a 7-11 record to McKenzie Arena, and defeated The Citadel 79-72 in their only meeting this year.

Quarterfinals

Saturday, 2:00 ET:  (1N) Western Carolina vs. Davidson/UNCG

The Western Carolina Catamounts are Division winners for the second time in three seasons, posting a 12-6 record, and have a real chance of winning the tournament for the first time since 1996. The Catamounts are led by Mike Williams, averaging 15.2 points per game. Conference Defensive Player of the Year Richie Gordon and Freshman of the Year Trey Sumler (hitting 41.4 percent of his three-point attempts) add to a very strong team. The Catamounts swept UNCG and beat Davidson in their only encounter.

Saturday, Approx. 4:30 ET: (2S) Wofford vs. Appalachian State/Georgia Southern

The Wofford Terriers will try to repeat as conference champions, bringing a 14-4 record into the tournament. Last year’s was their first-ever league title, and a four-game winning streak brings the hot Terriers into the tournament on a roll. Wofford is led by Noah Dahlman, averaging 20.0 points per game. Wofford leads the conference in turnovers, surrendering only 12.2 per game. The Terriers swept Georgia Southern, and defeated Appalachian State in their only game.

Saturday, 7 ET: (2N) Chattanooga vs. Furman/Samford

The Mocs will take home court in prime-time on Saturday with a 12-6 conference record and have won 10 conference titles (tied with Davidson for first place) behind the strength of 52 conference tournament victories. Chattanooga’s second seed in the North is due to losing four of its last six games. The Mocs have had defensive problems this season, allowing 74.8 points per game. Omar Wattad leads the team with 14.3 points per game. Chattanooga split the home-and-home series with Furman, losing to the Paladins in Spartanburg, S.C., 85-59. They won both of their games with Samford.

Saturday, Approx. 9:30 ET: (1S) College of Charleston vs. Elon/The Citadel

Until the College of Charleston dropped their final two regular-season games, the Cougars were casting a very long shadow over the rest of the league; their 22-9 overall record and 14-4 conference mark were hurt by those losses at Appalachian State and Western Carolina, but because they had already clinched the overall best record in the league due to tiebreakers, the consensus among SoCon watchers is that the Cougars were resting in advance of this tournament. Dynamite sharpshooting guard Andrew Goudelock is fifth in the nation in scoring, averaging 23.0 points per game to lead the Cougars. Goudelock was the runaway winner in voting for Player of the Year, and head coach Bobby Cremins was voted Coach of the Year by the media. Charleston swept The Citadel and defeated Elon in the teams’ only meeting this season.

Semifinals

Sunday, 6:00 ET: Western Carolina and Wofford’s half of the bracket (SportSouth)

Sunday, Approx. 8:30 ET: Chattanooga’s and the College of Charleston’s half of the bracket (SportSouth)

Championship

Monday, 9:00 ET (ESPN2)

The pressure is on the Cougars to regain their winning ways and reclaim the Southern Conference title and the coveted automatic bid to the 2011 NCAA Tournament, but Chattanooga, playing in its home arena, will be a strong contender to win the championship in its 90th edition. Western Carolina and Wofford are also strong contenders with considerable success this season, and could take the title as well.

This will be a Tournament to keep an eye on, with lots of balance in the top half of the league.

The featured matchup in the semifinals is likely to pit Chattanooga and Charleston. In 2009, when the tournament was also played in Chattanooga, the College of Charleston stunned top-seeded Davidson and a man you might have heard about – Stephen Curry – in the semifinals. The Cougars, however, were the third seed in their division and had to play four games in four nights to win the tournament. Chattanooga got a first-round bye and was the fresher team when it met Charleston in the SoCon final. The Cougars lacked legs on their jumpers while the Mocs roared to an early lead. Charleston waged a huge comeback to make the Mocs sweat, but the C of C ran out of gas just past the midway point of the second half. Charleston won’t suffer from fatigue this year, but the Cougars will likely have to play and win a de facto road game against Chattanooga. If Charleston can get past that Sunday test (in the event it indeed unfolds), the Cougars should be a clear favorite in Monday’s final. If Chattanooga pulls the upset, the Mocs would probably be a slight favorite in an essentially even match against either of the two main contenders in the top half of the bracket – Western Carolina or Wofford.

The main storyline in the final weeks of the SoCon regular season was the precipitous decline of Chattanooga. The Mocs wasted a three-and-a-half-game lead and lost the North to Western Carolina. The Mocs had to have a few of their players quarantined due to a flu outbreak on a miserable road trip that led to a four-game losing streak. If Chattanooga has fully healed from that stretch, the Mocs could be the most dangerous team in the field. If, on the other hand, the Mocs find that their winning edge is irretrievably lost, Furman could definitely take them out in the quarterfinals and open up the bracket for Charleston. In many ways, the host school for this tournament is the one that will dictate the responses of every other team. Buckle up – the Chattanooga Choo-Choo is about to get started. We’ll see how far it goes in a very intriguing SoCon showcase.

David Minter
DFN Sports Staff Writer

The regular-season finale in a Carolina-flavored mid-major conference didn’t possess a lot of meaning for one team, but it sure meant the world to the other, and that’s why a conference tournament will acquire an architecture that’s different from what everyone initially expected.

The Western Carolina Catamounts defeated the College of Charleston Cougars in Southern Conference competition from the Ramsey Center in Cullowhee, North Carolina, on Saturday afternoon. The win secured the Catamounts the No. 1 seed in the Northern Division. The Cougars had already garnered the No. 1 seed in the Southern Division coming into this contest, not to mention the best record in the league. Charleston was therefore already assured of an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament, an added prize that only made this game less important.

The Catamounts had more on the line – much more – and it showed throughout the afternoon. Western Carolina gained a 15-point lead early in the second half before Charleston closed the gap to just four. That was the point at which WCU could have crumbled and the C of C could have continued its assault, but instead, the team with more motivation managed to reassert itself. Head coach Larry Hunter’s Western Carolina squad answered with a run of its own to push the lead back to 13, and it was smooth sailing for the home team from that point onward.  Richie Gordon had 16 points, 14 rebounds, and 4 blocks for the Catamounts.

Western Carolina is hitting its stride at the right time, having now eight of nine as the Conference tournament looms on the horizon. A team that was left for dead in the North Division race five weeks ago, when it trailed Chattanooga by more than three games in the standings and was drifting through each week, suddenly caught fire to zoom upward in the standings. Chattanooga, meanwhile, plummeted down the stretch by losing four of its last six conference clashes. It’s true that Western Carolina earned its good fortune, but it also has to be said that Chattanooga participated in this stunning switcheroo atop the North Division in the SoCon.

Now, the battle lines are drawn for the SoCon Tournament, which will be held in Chattanooga this upcoming weekend. These two squads – WCU and the C of C – split the regular season series, each winning on its home floor. A third meeting in the Southern Conference Final would have an NCAA Tournament bid on the line. Chattanooga will have to play Charleston in the semifinals if both teams get that far. For most of the year, people in the SoCon were expecting a Chattanooga-Charleston final, but now that calculus has changed. We’ll see what life brings now that a crazy Southern Conference regular season has finally run its course.

Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer

Just when the prospect of total free-fall loomed as a scary possibility, the Chattanooga Choo-Choo got back on the tracks and avoided one more basketball derailment. A season that was headed south in the Southern Conference might still find its true north after all.

The Chattanooga Moccasins defeated the Furman Paladins in a highly important Southern Conference matchup from McKenzie Arena in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on Monday evening. The win kept the Mocs tied above the North Division of the SoCon with Western Carolina at 11-5. Furman fell to 12-5 and now trails leader Charleston by three games in the South Division of the conference.

This game’s value could not have been exaggerated. This was as big as a regular-season game gets in a relatively small conference because of the SoCon’s 12-team membership. Having 12 teams necessitates a four-round conference tournament, and that’s why this contest meant so much to Furman. The Paladins are still locked in a fierce fight with Wofford for the second seed in the South Division. That’s important because in a 12-team league with two divisions, the second seed in a division gets a first-round tournament bye. Wofford – which visits Chattanooga on Wednesday, interestingly enough – has a half-game lead over Furman for that second spot in the South.

This game was huge for Chattanooga as well, but for a different pair of reasons. First, the Mocs had lost four games in a row, largely because four players came down with the flu on a road trip from hell. This team needed to get healthy in every sense of the word. The second reason why this game mattered so much for the Mocs was that they needed to keep pace with Western Carolina for the top seed in the North, a prize that – if attained – will allow Chattanooga to avoid the league’s best team, Charleston, until the finals. The second seed in the North (the team that fails to win the division) will have to play Charleston in the semifinals under the 12-team, two-division bracketing system.

Chattanooga scored the first five points of the contest and closed on a 17-7 run to take a 12 point lead into the halftime locker room. The Mocs would never need to sweat in the second half – they were not challenged at all after halftime, extending their lead to as many as 23 with under four minutes left in the game. Head coach John Shulman’s club was simply better in every facet of the contest. The Mocs shot 48 percent from the field, hitting 10 three-pointers, and went to the line 21 more times than the Paladins. Chattanooga also dominated the glass, out rebounding Furman 38-24. The Mocs were led Chris Early’s 23 points. Three other Chattanooga players scored in double figures.

Furman was unable to get anything going offensively for consistent periods of time. Long droughts in scoring were simply too much for head coach Jeff Jackson’s team to overcome. The Paladins got an efficient performance from Noah States, who made 8-of-10 field goals to finish with 20 points. Guard Jordan Miller had a night to forget, shooting just 1-for-10 from the field and scoring just two points.

Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer

Perhaps in some years, a BracketBuster victory carries with it a considerable amount of prestige and NCAA resume value. In 2011, the leaders of the Southern Conference merely notched another win in the midst of more urgent business.

The College of Charleston Cougars defeated the Vermont Catamounts in BracketBuster competition on Saturday afternoon from the Carolina First Center in Charleston, South Carolina. The Cougars improved to 21-7 overall, won their sixth in a row, and showed the nation why they have been the pride of the Southern Conference all season. The loss dropped American East leading Vermont to 22-6. The Catamounts have already clinched the regular season title.

In the recent past, Southern Conference regular-season champions (which the Cougars are on the verge of becoming) have made a legitimate push at the NCAA Tournament in the at-large realm. Davidson, of course, became an at-large worthy team when Stephen Curry prowled the court for the SoCon powerhouse in 2007 and 2008. Davidson played and won enough national games to merit consideration for the Big Dance even if it failed to win the SoCon tourney. This year, the College of Charleston didn’t quite measure up along those lines. The C of C won at Tennessee and came close to winning at North Carolina; had Charleston defeated the Tar Heels, we might now be talking about an at-large invite, but because the Cougars fell short against UNC and also at Maryland, they just don’t have enough meat on the bones of their resume. They have to win the Southern Conference Tournament to make the Dance, making this game a somewhat inconvenient interruption of their schedule. Charleston, which played The Citadel on Thursday, has to come right back after this game and face Samford on Monday. Three games in five days will leave Charleston tired, and the C of C must then play another Thursday-Saturday set next week. The Cougars will be gassed by the time they finish the SoCon’s regular season, thereby forcing the coaching staff to spread around the minutes. This team can’t afford to be worn down, and playing a BracketBuster game with no NCAA Tournament value only works against Charleston’s best interests, not for them.

The Cougars came out of the gates with a vengeance. Charleston used a staggering 25-0 first half run to put the game out of reach in the early stages. Head coach Bobby Cremins’ squad held a 39-11 at one point and amassed a 52-24 halftime lead. The Cougars shot 55 percent on the evening and had 10 made three-pointers. Andrew Goudelock had 24 points and Willis Hall added 20 points for the Cougars.

Evan Fjeld led the Catamounts with 17 points and nine rebounds but Vermont was undone by costly turnovers and the inability to stop Charleston’s first half run. Head coach Mike Lonergan’s crew had a tremendous second half, outscoring Charleston by thirteen points. They simply dug themselves too big of a hole from which to recover.

Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer

The comeback has been spectacular for the team from Cullowhee, North Carolina. Now, the only question is, “Can Western Carolina finish the job?”

The Western Carolina Catamounts scored an important road victory over the Appalachian State Mountaineers in Southern Conference competition from the Holmes Center in Boone, North Carolina, on Thursday evening. The win moved the Catamounts into a first-place tie with Chattanooga atop the North Division of the Southern Conference. The Mountaineers fell to 8-8 in conference play and are merely biding their time before the SoCon Tournament in two weeks.

Just how amazing is it that Western Carolina finds itself tied with Chattanooga atop the SoCon North? Just two and a half weeks ago, this division seemed to be an open-and-shut case, a deep-freeze, lock-city, put-it-away-and-forget-about-it done deal.

Chattanooga played three conference games in December, when the Southern Conference gets an early start on its league slate. The Mocs won all three of those games while Western Carolina, playing twice, stumbled to 0-2 in the SoCon. January did little to change the calculus of the North race. On the morning of Feb. 2, Chattanooga owned a 9-2 conference mark while Western Carolina was languishing at 5-5. Improbably yet undeniably, the last 16 days have seen WCU win all five of its SoCon clashes while Chattanooga has dropped three of four. What was a three-game deficit in the loss column has now been thoroughly wiped away by the hard-charging Catamounts. It’s been breathtaking to behold. With one more week of winning basketball, WCU can gain the top seed in its division, which would be very important because it would allow the Catamounts to avoid Charleston – the top seed in the South – until the finals of the SoCon Tournament.

This contest for WCU against Appalachian State was close throughout, with the biggest lead being an eight-point ASU advantage in the middle of the second half. Trailing by three points with just over two minutes remaining, the Catamounts went on a 7-0 burst to gain the upper hand and secure the hard-fought road conquest. The Mountaineers got as close as one point with under 30 seconds to play but couldn’t get over the hump. ASU missed its last few field goal attempts while the Catamounts catapulted themselves to the finish line by draining four tries from the foul line. Mike Williams was the specific hero for the WCU crew; he went 4-of-4 from the charity stripe in the final 25 seconds to carry his team to the winner’s circle.

Brandon Boggs and the aforementioned Mr. Williams had 20 points each to pace head coach Larry Hunter’s Catamounts. Richie Gordon added 19 points as Western Carolina won for the fifth time in as many contests. Appalachian State shot a searing 55 percent from the field but was undone by 20 turnovers on the night. Andre Williamson had 16 points while Omar Clayton chipped in 14 for head coach Jason Caples’s squad in a losing effort.

Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer