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SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford College men’s basketball team was defeated 82-77 by Appalachian State on Saturday night in Benjamin Johnson Arena. The Terriers were down 18 early in the second half, but battled back for a six point lead with five minutes to go. However, the Mountaineers were 7-of-8 from the line in the final 34 seconds to secure the win.
Wofford is 3-3 overall and 0-1 in the conference, while Appalachian State is 4-2 overall and 2-0 in the SoCon. The Terriers were led by Noah Dahlman with 22 points and nine rebounds and Junior Salters with 19 points. Appalachian State was led by Donald Sims with 18 points and Eduardo Bermudez with 17 points as five Mountaineers scored in double-figures.
“Appalachian State is a team that has shown that they have a potent offense, but are susceptible to droughts,” said head coach Mike Young. “I am not sure we could have played any more poorly in the first half on either end of the floor and we found ourselves down twelve. We go in at the half and have to play with greater emotion and if we do the things that are important to us such as ball control and great shot selection, we could find ourselves back in it. We ended up being down four with twelve minutes to play and should have won the game.”
The Mountaineers got off to a hot start and found themselves up 17-3 seven minutes into the game. Wofford started to chip away at the lead and after five straight points from Brad Loesing were down 26-22 at 6:53 in the first half. Appalachian State pushed the lead back to 41-29 at the break.
To open the second half, Ryann Abraham hit two three-pointers for the Mountaineers to extend the lead to 18 with 18:46 on the clock. A three-pointer by Junior Salters at 15:24 cut the lead to 51-38. After the teams traded lay-ups, the Terriers went on a 12-0 run over the next four minutes to cut the lead to 53-52 at 11:18.
A three-pointer by Donald Sims ended the run and gave the Mountaineers a 56-52 lead. A lay-up by Noah Dahlman and two free throws by Corey Godzinski tied the game at 60-60 with 7:42 on the clock. Wofford was able to take a five point lead after a shot by Corey Godzinski, then had a six point advantage after a lay-up by Noah Dahlman at 5:16 for a 71-65 score.
Appalachian State regained the advantage after a three-pointer by Donald Sims for a 72-71 lead with 2:04 on the clock. With a four-point lead with just 42 seconds left, Junior Salters hit a three to cut the lead to one point. Following a turnover under the Wofford basket, Junior Salters scored in the paint to give Wofford a one-point lead at 76-75.
The Mountaineers made three-of-four foul shots to take a 78-76 lead with 14 seconds left on the clock. Jason Dawson then hit one of two shots for Wofford with ten on the clock. Appalachian State then was able to seal the game with four-of-four from the stripe to close out the 82-77 final.
Wofford shot 46.7% from the floor and 31.3% from three. The Terriers were 76.2% from the line. The Mountaineers shot 50.0% from the floor and 47.4% from behind the arc. Appalachian State was 77.3% from the foul line. Rebounds were even at 35 each.
The Terriers will take the next eleven days off for exams before hosting Union (Ky.) on Wednesday, December 17 at Benjamin Johnson Arena at 7:00 pm. A trip to Georgia on December 20 will complete the non-conference slate.
