Box Score Game Box (pdf)
STATESBORO, Ga. – On Thursday night the Wofford men’s basketball team picked up a 53-47 win over Georgia Southern at Hanner Fieldhouse. The game was tied with four minutes remaining, but the Terriers outscored the Eagles 11-5 in the last three minutes to earn the victory.
Wofford moves to 12-17 on the season and 6-10 in the Southern Conference to sit in third place in the South Division. Georgia Southern is 11-17 overall and 5-10 in the SoCon. The Terriers were led by Karl Cochran with 16 points, while Spencer Collins had his first career double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Lee Skinner added 11 points and nine rebounds. The Eagles were led by Eric Ferguson with eleven points.
“I thought we were a little more physical and we did some things that took them away from what they wanted to do,” said head coach Mike Young. “Our team has been very responsible and accountable on the defensive end of the floor. To outrebound them by nine is a pretty big statistic on the road. When you hold somebody to 34% from the field and outrebound them, you usually win.”
The Eagles scored first, but Wofford answered with a three by Karl Cochran and four points by Spencer Collins for a 7-2 lead at the 16:28 mark. The Terriers pushed the run to 9-0 and had a 9-2 lead, but the Eagles answered with a 9-1 run to take an 11-10 advantage at the 11:35 mark. John Swinton hit a three to regain the lead for the Terriers, but the Eagles answered with a three. Wofford scored the next four points for a 17-14 edge, however the game was tied at 17 with 5:58 left in the half.
Karl Cochran drained a three and Spencer Collins hit a pair of free throws as Wofford took a 22-17 advantage at the 5:03 mark of the first half. A lay-up by Aerris Smith and a jumper by John Swinton made it a 26.19 lead for the Terriers with 25 seconds left in the half. The Eagles added two free throws with 5.6 seconds on the clock for a 26-21 score at the break.
Wofford opened the second half with four straight points from Karl Cochran for a 30-21 lead less than a minute into play. The Eagles went on an 8-0 run to cut the score to 30-29 with 15:41 on the clock. Spencer Collins ended the run with a jumper and another Collins bucket gave Wofford a 34-31 lead after six minutes of play. C.J. Neumann added a dunk as the Terriers had a 36-31 advantage at the 12:25 mark.
Georgia Southern then used a quick 9-0 run to take a 40-36 lead with 7:30 left in the second half. Wofford ended the run with a jumper by Lee Skinner and tied it at 40 on a shot by Spencer Collins. Karl Cochran gave Wofford a 44-42 advantage with 3:25 on the clock and a reverse lay-up by Cochran made it a four point game with two minutes remaining in the half. Georgia Southern cut the lead to one point at 48-47, but Wofford answered with a bucket and free throw from Lee Skinner for a 51-47 advantage with sixty seconds on the clock. Lee Skinner added two free throws with 8.5 remaining to make it a 53-47 final score.
Wofford shot 39.3% from the floor while Georgia Southern shot 34.7% overall. The Terriers were 3-of-14 from with three, while the Eagles were 4-of-12 from behind the arc. Georgia Southern was 9-of-15 from the line while Wofford was 6-of-9 on free throws. The Terriers had a 40 to 31 lead on the glass. John Swinton returned to action after missing the last nine games.
Wofford will travel to the College of Charleston on Thursday, February 28 for a contest that will be broadcast on ESPN3. The regular season finale against The Citadel on Saturday, March 2, will be at Benjamin Johnson Arena.
