Box Score Game Book (pdf)
CLEMSON, S.C. – The Wofford men’s basketball team was defeated 78-70 at Clemson on Monday evening in Littlejohn Coliseum. The Terriers were down sixteen points in the first half, but fought back at the end to make it a game late in the second half.
Wofford is 0-2 on the season and Clemson is 2-0. The Terriers were led by Noah Dahlman with a game-high 17 points. Brad Loesing added 14 points, Cameron Rundles had ten points and Tim Johnson had a team-high six rebounds. For Clemson, five Tigers scored in double-figures, led by Jerai Grant with thirteen points and he also led the team with six rebounds.
“That was one of the most incredible offensive explosions that I have seen by Clemson,” said head coach Mike Young. “I thought we were playing really hard but we had some problems as we were down by 15. I told the guys that I am disappointed that we lost, but we saw something tonight. We say that emotion, energy and cohesive Wofford team that we have loved to watch play. We made progress tonight and got better tonight. Let’s come back and get a little better tomorrow and head down to Charleston.”
The Tigers took an early 5-0 lead, but Wofford cut it to one point three minutes into the game. Clemson went on a 6-0 run to extend the advantage and over the next seven minutes were able to push the lead to 22-8 before Brad Loesing hit a three –pointer with 11:35 on the clock. With 7:27 remaining in the first half, the Tigers held a 28-16 lead.
Wofford cut the lead to ten points at 30-20 after a shot by Cameron Rundles, but the Tigers answered with the next four points. After a put-back by Tim Johnson, the Clemson lead was 36-24 with three minutes to go in the half. Clemson had a 40-25 lead with 1:18 left, but Brad Loesing hit a three and a two in the final 45 seconds to make it a 40-30 score at the half.
To open the second half, Jamar Diggs hit a jumper for the Terriers to cut it to an eight point game, but the Tigers scored the next seven points for a 47-32 lead when Wofford called time out. A three by Kevin Giltner made it a ten-point game at 53-43 with 11:27 on the clock and another three by Giltner cut the lead to 55-46 with 9:14 left.
Clemson was able to push the lead back to 61-48 with six minutes left in the game. At the 3:43 mark, the Tigers had a 63-52 advantage. After a bucket by Noah Dahlman, a three by Cameron Rundles with 1:53 on the clock cut the lead to 67-60. It was a free throw contest in the final two minutes of the game as the Terriers were able to chip away at the lead at cut it to six points with only twenty seconds remaining. However the Tigers added two late free throws for the 78-70 final score.
Wofford shot 47.8% from the floor and were 42.9% from three. From the free throw line, the Terriers were 76.9%. Clemson was 52.0% overall and were 36.4% from behind the arc. They were 73.3% from the line. Clemson had a 29 to 25 lead on the boards and Wofford had 17 turnovers in the contest. Tim Johnson and Jamar Diggs fouled out for Wofford, while Jerai Grant and Tanner Smith fouled out for Clemson.
The Terriers will face USC Upstate on Thursday afternoon at 2:30 pm in the first round of the Charleston Classic. After completing the Charleston Classic, Wofford will open the home slate on November 24 against Air Force in Benjamin Johnson Arena.
