Box Score Game Box Score

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Wofford College men’s basketball team defeated Purdue 69-66 on Wednesday night at Mackey Arena. Wofford scored the last six points of the game, coming back from down three points with 1:22 left in the game.

The Terriers are 5-4 overall and 1-1 in SoCon play. Purdue is now 7-3 on the season. The game was the second for both teams in the Findlay Toyota Las Vegas Classic. Junior Salters led the Terriers with 13 points and Matt Estep added eleven points. Purdue was led by Keaton Grant with 17 points.

“This was a good Purdue team that earlier beat Louisville,” said Wofford head coach Mike Young. “Anytime you have great guards, you give yourself a chance to win. At the end, I knew that with the ball in the hands of either Nichols or Gibson, they could take it. To beat a Big Ten team on the road, in the middle of a long road trip is a great thing. We have a neat bunch of guys that have togetherness and really want each other to succeed.”

In the first half, the Boilermakers took an early 7-1 lead less than four minutes into the game. Wofford slowly began to chip away at the lead, but a six point run by Purdue extended the lead to 19-9. The Terriers responded with a nine point run, keyed by a three-pointer by Corey Godzinski. In the last two minutes of the first half, Matt Estep and Drew Gibson hit back-to-back three pointers to give Wofford a 28-26 lead with 30 seconds remaining. Purdue’s Nemanja Calasan hit a two as time expired in the half for a 28-28 tie.

Purdue scored fast in the second half to gain the lead, but the Terriers responded with a basket by Drew Crowell to tie it again. The Boilermakers extended the lead to five points, but shots by Junior Salters and Terry Martin, along with a free throw by Noah Dahlman tied it again with 15 minutes left in the second half.

After several lead changes, Purdue pulled away again to a six point lead. Once again, the Terriers responded with shots by Matt Estep and Drew Gibson to tie the game. A lay-up by Corey Godzinski gave the Terriers a 57-55 lead with 6:37. Godzinski then hit two free throws for a four points lead. Purdue was able to even the score again, then a three-pointer by Junior Salters gave Wofford a 62-60 lead with 2:45 remaining.

Purdue’s Chris Kramer hit a two-pointer with 1:22 remaining in the game to give the Boilermakers a 66-63 lead. From that point, the Terriers took over. A quick three-pointer by Shane Nichols tied the game with 50 seconds left in the game. Wofford came up with a turnover with 27 seconds left and held for the last shot. With two seconds remaining, Shane Nichols drove the lane and made a lay-up. Tim Johnson was fouled by the Boilermakers on the inbounds play and he hit the front end of the two attempts for the 69-66 victory.

Wofford was tied at the half for the first time this season. Drew Gibson had a career-high 13 assists in the game. Wofford out-rebounded the Boilermakers 38-36 for the game. The Terriers were 50% from the three point line, hitting 7-of-14, while Purdue was 3-of-16 from behind the arc.

Wofford outshot the Boilermakers 46.2% to 41.3%. There were eleven lead changes in the game and eight ties. The loss was the first by Purdue to a member of the Southern Conference. The Terriers were without Tyler Whatley, who missed the game due to a rib injury. Purdue was receiving votes in the Associate Press poll.

The game was the third of five straight on the road for the Terriers. Wofford will take two days off and will play Texas Southern on Saturday, December 22 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. On Sunday, December 23, the Terriers will face either UT-Pan American or Bethune-Cookman. The next home game will be Tuesday, January 3 against Chattanooga.