SoCon Fans

(South-1) Wofford 77, (North-2) Western Carolina 58

The Wofford Terriers won the regular season championship in the Southern Conference. Now they’re one win away from taking the tournament title and wrapping up a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

Coach Mike Young has crafted a masterwork this season with his squad from Spartanburg, S.C. On Sunday afternoon at Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, N.C., Wofford wore down Western Carolina with defense in a 19-point conquest of the Catamounts. The victory propels the terrorizing Terriers into Monday’s championship game and increases the odds that the SoCon’s big dog will represent the league in the Big Dance.

Wofford led by only six points at halftime against Larry Hunter’s Western Carolina club, but as the second half developed, the Terriers got their teeth into this tussle and slowly imposed their will on their lower-seeded opponent. Wofford’s defense allowed just two field goals from WCU in the first 10 minutes of the second half, en route to a 48-37 lead. The Catamounts hung around for awhile and pulled within eight, at 56-48, with just 5:49 left, but just when the second seed from the SoCon’s North Division was beginning to show some spunk and resilience, the top seed from the South Division put its foot down.

One more dose of dominant defense from Wofford – a two-minute and 52-second stretch in which WCU went scoreless – enabled the Terriers to uncork an 8-0 run that made the score 64-48 with 2:57 to go. Just to make sure the Catamounts couldn’t climb back into this contest, Wofford locked down the victory by hitting 13 of 14 free throws in the final two and a half minutes.

In addition to Wofford’s exceptional defense, two other ingredients created a winning recipe for Mike Young’s men: foul shots and bench points. Wofford did make a regular procession to the charity stripe at the very end of this encounter, but before those final 14 free throws, the regular-season SoCon champion had already earned 23 additional foul shots. All in all, Wofford enjoyed a plus-19 margin in terms of both free throw attempts (37 to 18) and makes (30 to 11). In a game decided by 19 points, one can say that’s a fairly relevant pair of facts, to say the least.

The other big difference for the winners from Wofford was the play of the Terriers’ reserves. Western Carolina got 18 points from reserve guard Harouna Mutombo, but because Wofford received 17 huge points from backup forward Terry Martin, the Catamounts didn’t gain the leverage they might have been led to expect. On most nights, an 18-point effort from a reserve guard would have enabled Western Carolina to play Wofford on even terms, but because Martin – a four-points-per-game scorer entering this evening – had the game of his life, the Terriers stayed strong from start to finish.

Now, they’ll try to finish off a SoCon tournament title and march on to the NCAAs.

What’s Next

Wofford will play Monday night in the Southern Conference Tournament final, as this divisionally-divided conference reaches the endpoint of its own local postseason party in Charlotte. Wofford actually sweated less in the semifinals than in Saturday’s quarterfinal win over UNC-Greensboro, so Mike Young’s team should be appreciably fresh for the final throwdown on Monday. Moreover, playing in the first semifinal will give Wofford a small but meaningful heads-up in terms of turnaround time and preparation. Wofford, as the favorite, needs to exhibit the steadiness and mental strength that have characterized the Terriers during their run to the regular season championship in the SoCon. As the hunted and not the hunter, Wofford must be willing and ready to absorb some runs and ride out some storms, which is something not all college teams are able to do in the maddening month of March.

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer