Box Score Game Box (pdf)
WILMINGTON, N.C. – The Wofford men’s basketball team came from behind in a 56-51 win over Hampton at Trask Coliseum in the Nations of Coaches Classic in Wilmington. The Terriers were down by as many as 13 points in the game, but took advantage of 24 turnovers by the Pirates to pull out the victory.
Wofford begins the season 2-4, while Hampton is 0-4. The Terriers were led by Lee Skinner with a career-high 21 points along with ten rebounds for the double-double. Karl Cochran added 18 points. The Pirates were led by David Bruce with ten points and twelve rebounds for a double-double.
“I feel fortunate to win,” said head coach Mike Young. “It was not a pretty basketball game, but we did a lot better in the second half. Ten turnovers in the first half is not who we are. We did a better job in the second half with only five. We were on the rocks there for a little bit, but we showed some toughness and showed some resilience and found a win to come out of here with a win. I would rather learn a life lesson while winning than learn that lesson having lost.”
The Terriers scored the first four points of the contest and held a 6-3 lead after three minutes of play. The Pirates jumped out to a 14-6 advantage with an 11-0 run. A three-pointer by Karl Cochran ended the run and a nine-minute scoring drought to make it 14-9 with 8:34 left in the first half. Hampton was able to take a 21-12 lead with 3:55 remaining in the half.
Hampton pushed the lead to 25-12 with a 9-0 run. Wofford answered with a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 25-19 with one minute left in the first half. The Pirates added two points and took a 27-19 advantage at the break. The Terriers were 7-of-28 from the floor (2-of-12 from three) in the first half for a 25% shooting percentage and committed ten turnovers.
Lee Skinner opened the second half with four straight points for the Terriers to cut the lead to 27-23. Wofford was able to chip away at the advantage and at the 11:26 mark the score was 32-30 in favor of the Pirates. A three pointer by Spencer Collins cut the lead to one point at 34-33, but Hampton went back up by five points. Lee Skinner hit a three pointer to tie the game at 40 with 5:18 left in the second half.
A three by Karl Cochran tied the game at 43 with 2:55 on the clock. Another three by Cochran gave the Terriers a 47-43 advantage with 1:25 left in the second half. Wofford took advantage of a turnover and Lee Skinner made it a 49-43 lead, but with 35 seconds left the advantage was 50-47. Skinner added two free throws with 24 seconds remaining for a 52-47 score. Wofford continued to hit free throws down the stretch for the 56-51 victory.
Wofford shot 32.1% from the floor while Hampton shot 42.3% overall. The Terriers were 6-of-25 from three, while the Pirates were 2-of-11 from behind the arc. Wofford was 14-of-22 from the free throw line, while Hampton was 5-of-10 from the line. The Pirates had a 44 to 32 lead on the glass, but Wofford came up with 14 steals.
Wofford will complete the five-game road trip on Saturday against Wilmington at 2:00 p.m. in the Nations of Coaches Classic. The Terriers will return home next Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. against Winthrop.
