Box Score WOF-UTC Box Score
SPARTANBURG, SC – The Wofford College men’s basketball team was defeated 85-78 by Chattanooga on Thursday night at Benjamin Johnson Arena. The Terriers led by ten at the half, but were outscored in the final ten minutes of the game. Wofford hit 17 three-pointers, with twelve in the first half.
The Terriers are 7-5 overall and 1-2 in SoCon play. Chattanooga is 9-5 overall and undefeated at 4-0 in the conference. Wofford was led by Shane Nichols with 23 points and Drew Gibson with 19 points, with each player hitting six three-pointers. Terry Martin led the Terriers with seven rebounds. Chattanooga’s Stephen McDowell had 19 points and Marcus Watts had eight rebounds.
“Chattanooga wore us out physically tonight,” said Wofford head coach Mike Young. “When it got tight towards the end, Chattanooga got us. We did not rebound well in the second half. The whole thing was disappointing. I hope that we have learned a lesson and I hope that it does not happen again. We have a good basketball team, but Chattanooga was more aggressive.”
After an early bucket by the Mocs to start the game, Wofford built a 13-7 lead at 14:43 after a dunk by Tyler Whatley on an assist on an inbound pass by Norm Nixon. A three-point barrage enabled the Terriers to extend the lead to 32-18 with 7:08 remaining in the first half.
Chattanooga went on a 6-0 run to cut the Terriers’ lead to 32-24 at 5:37, but three-pointers by Matt Estep and Shane Nichols increased the lead back to twelve at 40-28 with 3:26 left in the first half. Another quick run cut the lead to four points, another two three-pointers by Shane Nichols and a jumper by Matt Estep gave the Terriers a 48-38 lead at the half.
The Mocs started the second half by scoring the first seven points, but a 9-2 run keyed by three pointers by Drew Gibson, Shane Nichols and Junior Salters gave the Terriers a 57-47 lead at 15:38. Chattanooga chipped away at the lead and pulled within one point at 62-61 with 8:50 remaining in the second half.
With 4:30 remaining in the game, Chattanooga took a 70-69 lead, their first since a 2-0 lead at 19:12 in the first half. Two three-pointers by Stephen McDowell enabled the Mocs to take an eight points lead at 80-72. Wofford was able to cut the lead to four points after a three-pointer by Drew Gibson with 28 seconds remaining, but the Mocs hit three-of-four free throws down the stretch for the 85-78 final score.
The Terriers shot 47.2% from the floor and 48.6% from behind the arc while holding Chattanooga to 48.1% from the floor and 35.0% for three-point attempts. Wofford was called for 30 fouls to Chattanooga’s 18, resulting in 38 free throw attempts by the Mocs to only 18 for the Terriers.
The 17 three-pointers in the game by Wofford was one shy of the team record of 18. Wofford had 12 of the 17 three-pointers in the first half, going 12-of-20 in the first twenty minutes. Norm Nixon and Drew Gibson both fouled out for the Terriers. Wofford was out-rebounded 39-27 and the Terriers had 13 turnovers to the Mocs ten. The 85 points allowed by Wofford were the most this season.
The game was the first for the Terriers after an eleven-day break and was the first of four straight home games. Wofford will host West Virginia Wesleyan on Saturday at 3:00 pm as part of a double-header with the women’s team. The women will host Furman at 6:00 pm on Saturday.
