Box Score Game box (pdf)
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford men’s basketball team used a late run to defeat Gardner-Webb 54-42 on Wednesday night at Benjamin Johnson Arena. The game was tied at 42, but a 12-0 run by the Terriers over the final four minutes of the contest pushed Wofford to the win.
Wofford moves to 4-5 on the season, while Gardner-Webb is 5-5. The Terriers were led by Lee Skinner with 19 points, while Karl Cochran added ten points and four rebounds. John Swinton had six points, four rebounds, and two assists along with two steals. For the Runnin’ Bulldogs, Tashan Newsome had ten points, while Kevin Hartley had nine points and a team-high seven rebounds.
“We have played nine times and we have guarded every night and I think our benchmark is holding a team under 39% from the floor,” said head coach Mike Young. “That is a good win and I am happy with our team. We were not good offensively and Gardner-Webb had something to do with that. It was a nice win and one that we really needed to get. We made a lot of nice plays down the stretch to win the game.”
The Runnin’ Bulldogs scored first, but the Terriers took a 5-2 lead after a three pointer by John Swinton three minutes into the game. Karl Cochran banked in a three pointer to give Wofford a 10-2 lead with 15:20 left in the first half. Indiana Faithfull added a three to push the lead to 15-4.
At the 10:33 mark of the half, the Terriers had a 19-10 lead following two free throws by C.J. Neumann. Neither team scored for nearly five minutes before a jumper by Karl Cochran made it a 21-12 advantage with 4:50 left in the half. John Swinton hit a three at the two minute mark to give the Terriers a 25-13 lead. The Runnin’ Bulldogs hit the final five points of the half to make it a 25-18 game at the break.
Wofford scored the first four points of the second half to take a 29-18 lead. A three by Karl Cochran pushed the advantage to 32-20. After taking a 36-22 lead, the Runnin’ Bulldogs went on a 6-0 run before a fall-away jumper by Lee Skinner made it a 38-28 score with twelve minutes on the clock. Gardner-Webb continued to chip away at the lead and at the 9:18 mark the score was 38-34 in favor of the Terriers.
Gardner-Webb cut it to a four-point contest before two free throws by Spencer Collins gave Wofford a 42-36 lead with seven minutes remaining. A bucket off a steal by the Runnin’ Bulldogs made it two-point game and a lay-up by Kevin Hartley with 4:28 on the clock tied the game at 42. Two free throws by Spencer Collins and a three by Lee Skinner gave Wofford a 47-42 lead with 2:32 remaining. The Terriers added seven more free throws to extend the run to 12-0 and take a 54-42 lead with under twenty seconds on the clock. Gardner-Webb missed their final two shots in the last ten seconds to give Wofford the 54-42 win.
Wofford shot 40.5% from the floor while Gardner-Webb shot 33.3% overall. The Terriers were 6-of-14 from three, while the Runnin’ Bulldogs were 2-of-18 from behind the arc. Wofford was 18-of-22 from the free throw line, while Gardner-Webb was 6-of-8 from the line. The Runnin’ Bulldogs had a 32 to 23 lead on the glass and each team committed 17 turnovers.
Wofford begins Southern Conference play on Saturday, December 8 at Davidson. The Terriers will be on the road for the next five games before returning home on January 8.
