Southern Conference Notebook
by Jon Gonzalez
It’s Feb. 1, and you are a member of the Southern Conference. You look at the calendar, count the weeks, and find that in a little more than five weeks, the NCAA will select 64 teams for their tournament. You wonder if your team can find its way into the big dance.
Well, of course it can. You’re in the Southern Conference, remember? Whether you are a Wildcat (Davidson) or a Terrier (Wofford), your team has a chance. All you have to do is go to Chattanooga, Tenn., and win three or four games in consecutive days and voila, you are in the big dance. Of course, this feat will be more attainable for some teams than others.
To help you, the hoops fan, discern between the teams who have the best chance and those who don’t, I have developed the SoCon color meter. The teams in Red have the best chance to win the conference, those in the Green have a decent shot at running the table, and those in the ice cold Blue are basically Rocky/Cinderella material. So, here goes it:
Red
Davidson: They are10-0 in the SoCon; need I say more?
UT-Chattanooga: The tournament is on their home court; that might give them a little bit of an edge.
UNC-Greensboro: Spartans are neck and neck with Chattanooga for the lead in the North division.
College of Charleston: Impressive back-to-back wins against Georgia Southern and UNCG.
Georgia Southern: Elton Nesbitt is the second leading scorer in the SoCon with 18.9 points per game.
Green
Furman: The Paladins are primed to finish over .500, something they have not done in the past two seasons.
The Citadel: The stubborn Bulldogs refuse to go away.
Appalachian State: They really should be in blue territory, but the fact that they are .500 overall persuades me to give them a marginal shot.
Blue
Western Carolina: Their leading scorer is David Berghoefer. He’s from Wisconsin. Why do I mention this, you ask? I have no idea.
East Tennessee State: At least they don’t have to go out of state for the conference tourney.
Elon: Whew! Fighting Christ…errr…Phoenix come through with their first conference victory of the year Monday night. They only need to quadruple their conference win total during the conference tournament to earn NCAA bid.
Wofford: You know, Johnny Depp was pretty good in Once Upon a Time in Mexico. It’s on right now on HBO and…oh sorry, lost my train of thought there for a minute, I am supposed to be talking about Wofford. Hmm…lets put it this way: If the Terriers were a movie star, they would not be Johnny Depp. More like a Pauly Shore.
Player of the Week: Brendan Winters, Davidson.
The junior forward averaged 21 points per game in wins over East Tennessee State, the Citadel and Chattanooga.
Rookie of the Week: Warren McLendon, The Citadel.
The freshman scored 27 points in a win against East Tennessee, then hit for 11 and 13 in losses to Davidson and Wofford, respectively.
The Week That Was (Jan. 24-Jan. 31)
North Division
1. Chattanooga Mocs (13-6, 6-3)
The Mocs came up short in the biggest SoCon game of the year, a battle with South division frontrunner Davidson. Prior to its Monday night loss to Davidson, UTC lost its big, but not as big as the Davidson game to UNCG. The disconcerting aspect of both games was how demoralizing the losses were. In their contest with UNCG, the Mocs held a big lead early but were run out of the gym late. Against Davidson, a horrendous shooting effort sealed the Mocs fate early. At least UTC picked up an early week win against Appalachian State.
Next Up: Saturday vs. Elon, Monday vs. College of Charleston.
2. UNC-Greensboro Spartans (13-7, 6-3)
By virtue of their win against Chattanooga on Saturday and Chattanooga’s loss to Davidson on Monday, the Spartans have the same conference record as UTC. Storming back from a 19-point halftime deficit and outscoring first-place Chattanooga 43-19 should have made the Spartans week perfect. Well, it was perfect, until UNCG fell to previously winless in the SoCon Elon. With a Feb. 5 showdown against Davidson on the horizon, were the Spartans caught looking ahead in what the NFL likes to call a sandwich game?
Next Up: Saturday vs. Davidson.
3. Appalachian State Mountaineers (9-9, 3-5)
The Mountaineers gave division leading Chattanooga all it could handle Jan.24, losing by only eight. During that contest, UTC had to withstand a late ASU run. The Mountaineers received a little break before their Monday night game with Longwood because their game against East Tennessee State was postponed due to inclement weather. A well-rested ASU trampled the 1-22 Lancers 89-59.
Next Up: Thursday vs. The Citadel.
4. Western Carolina Catamounts (7-15, 2-7)
A so-so week included a win against Elon Saturday and a Monday night loss at Furman. But do wins and losses really matter when your team includes guys with names like Jared Outing, Corey Muirhead, David Berghoefer, Rans Brempong and Kyle Greathouse? I think not. You really don’t have to scour the NCAAs for an all name team, you have one right in Cullowhee, N.C. The aforementioned Berghoefer scored 22 points and pulled down 16 boards against Elon, and he hit for a season-high 26 points against Furman.
Next Up: Saturday at College of Charleston, Monday vs. Appalachian State.
5. East Tennessee State Buccaneers (6-13, 2-7)
The week that was for ETSU featured two losses that went down to the wire. Despite a career-high 27 points from Ben Rhoda, the Bucs could not overcome the Citadel in an 80-76 loss on Jan.24. Two days later against Davidson, ETSU nearly pulled the upset but again came up short. The Bucs’ bench outscored Davidson’s bench 41-19, 31 of which came from Tim Smith. Unfortunately, the contest, which was even at halftime, went in favor of Davidson, 63-62.
Up Next: Saturday at Wofford, Monday at Elon.
6. Elon Phoenix (3-19, 1-8)
The Phoenix went 1-2 on the week, but that one win happened to be Elon’s first conference victory. Even though the Phoenix shot a paltry 27.9 percent from the field, Elon still got by UNCG 54-50. Elon used a stiff defensive effort to stifle UNCG, forcing 17 turnovers. Le’Vonn Jordan came off the bench to lead Elon in scoring with 13 points, while Chris Chalko chipped in with 12 points. So break up the Phoenix, who look to add to their one-game winning streak in the new week.
Up Next: Saturday at Chattanooga, Monday vs. East Tennessee State
South Division
1. Davidson Wildcats (14-7, 10-0)
The wins just keep on coming for Davidson, which won three games during the past week. The Wildcats prevailed over East Tennessee State, barely, then rolled up the Citadel before defeating North Division-leading Chattanooga by 14 points. By beating ETSU, Davidson head coach Bob McKillop garnered his 136th win in the Southern Conference, becoming the SoCon’s all-time leader in victories. Brendan Winters was a big reason why the Wildcats are still undefeated, averaging 21 points per game for the week.
Up Next: Saturday at UNCG, Monday at Wofford
2. College of Charleston Cougars (13-6, 6-3)
The Cougars are making it known they are not to be taken lightly in the Southern Conference. Years removed from their role of giant killer in the NCAAs, C of C is again showing signs that they could be a dangerous team capable of beating anyone. Led by a double helping of Jackson (Bernard scored 19 points while Stanley knocked in 26), the Cougars upended UNCG by 13 Jan.24. Later in the week against Georgia Southern, C of C erased a 13-point halftime deficit to outscore the Eagles 51-31 in the second-half to win by the score of 71-64. Tony Mitchell led the Cougars in scoring with 24 points while the defense forced GSU into 19 turnovers.
Up Next: Saturday vs. Western Carolina, Monday at Chattanooga
3. Georgia Southern Eagles (13-8, 6-3)
The Eagles had a golden opportunity to gain sole possession of second place in the South Division of the SoCon but let a 13-point halftime lead slip to the wayside with sloppy ball handling (the Eagles turned the ball over 19 times) in a 71-64 loss. The Eagles took out their frustrations out on Savannah State by smothering the winless Tigers 92-64. The bench emptier featured playing time for every Eagle, and all five Eagle starters scored in double digits, including 19 from Elton Nesbitt. Savannah State (0-24) is four wins away from a winless season. Earlier in the week, Georgia State slipped by Wofford 79-76. Donte Gennie sealed the game for GSU with a late steal.
Up Next: Saturday vs. Furman
4. Furman Paladins (11-8, 4-3)
It was a very winning week for the Paladins, who triumphed over Elon and Western Carolina. During its 71-51 win against Elon, Furman raced to a 37-17 halftime lead. The rest of the game was more of the same as sophomore Moussa Diagne led the Paladins in scoring with 19 points. Against Western Carolina, sophomore Eric Webb scored 18, all of which came from behind the three-point arc, as the Paladins slipped past the Catamounts 73-66.
Up Next: Saturday at Georgia Southern, Monday at the Citadel
5. The Citadel Bulldogs (12-7, 4-5)
The Bulldogs shot the lights out during the past week. However, their precision with the roundball was only good for one victory. Against East Tennessee, the Citadel shot 58 percent from the field in an 80-76 win. Freshman Warren McLendon scored 27 points in the win, while Kevin Hammock hit for 23. The ‘Dogs won despite turning the ball over 21 times. In a 73-63 loss to Wofford, the Bulldogs shot 47.9 percent from the field. However, Citadel’s defense could not stop four Wofford starters from scoring in double figures. The Citadel’s did not shoot well against Davidson, however, falling to the Wildcats 81-59.
Up Next: Thursday vs. Appalachian State, Monday vs. Furman
6. Wofford Terriers (9-10, 2-6)
The Terriers gave Georgia Southern all it could handle Jan.24 but came up short 79-76. Despite 18 points from Adrien Borders and a 60 percent team field goal percentage in the second half, the Eagles were just too much. The Terriers would find redemption later in the week in the form of a 73-63 win over the Citadel. Wofford forced 19 turnovers in the win and four Terrier starters scored in double digits.
Up Next: Saturday vs. East Tennessee State, Monday vs. Davidson
