Box Score Game Book (pdf)

DAVIDSON, N.C. – The Wofford men’s basketball team reached the 20-win mark with a resounding 73-51 win over Davidson at Belk Arena on Wednesday night. The Terriers defense held the Wildcats to 29.5% from the floor, as Wofford won 20 games for the first time since moving to NCAA Division I.

Wofford has won seven in a row and is 20-8 on the season and 12-3 in the SoCon. Davidson is 13-13 overall and 8-6 in the conference. The Terriers were led by Noah Dahlman with 19 points and Jamar Diggs added ten points as thirteen different players scored for Wofford. Tim Johnson led the team with eight rebounds. Davidson was led by Jake Cohen with 17 points, including ten from the free throw line. J.P. Kuhlman had 13 points and six rebounds.

“Needless to say we have the up most respect for this program,” said head coach Mike Young. “Somewhere along the path between the two games with Davidson our team took a step forward defensively and started to hang our hat in that area. We did not rebound great, but I thought our kids were tenacious and had every shot contested. Our team leads the league in three point percentage defense and that was a key going into tonight’s game. Tomorrow is the biggest day we have and we are going to take care of tomorrow and Saturday at Georgia Southern. Let’s take care of Wofford and the other things will take care of themselves.”

The Wildcats opened the game by scoring the first five points, but then the Terriers began a 7-0 run with a tip-in by Noah Dahlman to take the lead at 16:42. Wofford was able to push the lead to 14-7 after a three by Kevin Giltner at the 11:56 mark. The Terriers continued the run and scored a total of 14 straight points on the way to a 21-7 lead after a three by Junior Salters at 9:45.

Davidson ended a seven-minute scoreless stretch with a pair of free throws by Steve Rossiter, but Brad Loesing answered with a lay-up for a 23-9 score with eight minutes left in the half. Wofford kept up the defensive pressure and built a 34-11 lead after two free throws by Tim Johnson and a floater by Cameron Rundles. The Wildcats would then go on a 6-0 run to cut the advantage to 34-17 with three minutes remaining. Wofford scored only four points in the final three minutes, but were able to head into the half with a 38-22 advantage.

To open the second half, the Wildcats cut into the lead and after a three by Nik Cochran, the score was 44-31 at the 15:44 mark. Terry Martin scored the next four points for Wofford to make it a 48-33 score at the twelve minute media time out. The Terriers then went on a 12-3 run to take a 60-36 lead at 6:32 after a bucket by Corey Godzinksi.

A three by Junior Salters gave Wofford their largest lead of the game at 27 points. With three minutes remaining in the game, the Terriers were up 66-44. Davidson cut the lead to 22 points twice in the final minutes and a three by Bryant Barr with 22 seconds made it a 71-51 game. Taylor Wagener hit two free throws with twelve seconds on the clock for the final 73-51 score.

Wofford shot 46.8% from the floor and were 38.5% from three. From the free throw line, the Terriers were 72.7%. Davidson was 29.5% overall and were 20.0% from behind the arc. They were 80.8% from the line, scoring 21 points from the stripe. Wofford had a 35-29 lead on the boards. Will Rossiter and Ben Allison fouled out for the Wildcats.

The Terriers made their first eleven free throws in the game. Wofford held the Wildcats to just 20.8% from the floor in the first half and limited Davidson to only five field goals. Noah Dahlman scored in double-figures for the 28th time this season and has a streak of 41 games with ten or more points.

With the victory, the Terriers have 20 wins on the season which is the most since moving to NCAA Division I. It marks only the eighth 20-win season in school history and the first since the 1993-94 season. Wofford has won thirteen of their last fourteen games. It was the first win at Davidson since December 19, 1990 (74-63) and the first time with back-to-back wins over the Wildcats since 2003 and 2004.

The Terriers complete the four-game road trip at Georgia Southern on Saturday at 2:30 pm before returning home on Wednesday, February 25 against the College of Charleston. With one more win on the season, Wofford can secure a first-round bye in the upcoming SoCon Tournament.