SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford men's basketball team delivered 84-year-old Korean War veteran Jack Morris a victory in his coaching debut, defeating Ohio Valley, 82-54, Tuesday night at Benjamin Johnson Arena.
Morris served as Wofford's honorary coach. He accepted the offer from head coach Mike Young,
who surprised him with the opportunity at his home of Eden Terrace two weeks ago on Veterans Day. Wofford and Eden Terrance partnered with the foundation Second Wind Dreams to help make Morris' wish a reality.
Senior Karl Cochran took some of the pressure off. After being named Southern Conference Player of the Week earlier in the day, Cochran began his campaign for another, notching his second double-double of the season with 21 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. He shot 6-of-13 from the floor and was 5-of-8 from three – all of his triples came in the first half.
Juniors Spencer Collins, Justin Gordon and sophomore Jaylen Allen joined Cochran in double-figure scoring. Collins shot 6-of-9 for 18 points, while Gordon was a perfect 5-of-5 for 13 and Allen drained a pair of triples to score 10.
The win makes five in a row for Wofford (5-1).
Ohio Valley (0-2) didn't make it easy. Playing in just their second game of the year, the NCAA Div. II Fighting Scots led by as many as nine in the first half. A layup by Robert Smelser put them up 15-6 at the 13:57 mark.
The Terriers stormed back with an 8-0 run that spanned a tick less than three minutes. Gordon scored half of it, hitting two free throws and a jumper to cut the margin to one.
Gordon was not finished. With the Terriers still running,
he caught a long lob from sophomore Eric Garcia for an alley-oop jam that put Wofford up seven and energized the arena. Cochran followed with a trey and two minutes later the Terriers led by 14, 41-27, with 2:16 to play before the break.
Cochran paced all scorers with 17 points at the half on 5-of-7 from deep. The Terriers led 43-32, shooting 50 percent from the floor to Ohio Valley's game 42 percent.
Wofford continued to fight off a feisty Fighting Scot bunch. Smelser was good from two more at the 12:33 mark to get the visitor's back within single-digts, 57-48.
A big Terrier run ensued that put the game away. A layup by senior Lee Skinner started a 13-2 spurt that saw Wofford lead 70-50 with 6:09 to play.
Ohio Valley only ever got within 17 after that before a 12-2 run finished it off through the final 4:59. In all, the two runs combined to help Wofford outscore Ohio Valley 25-6 over the final 11:56. Junior Zach Korkowski gave Wofford its biggest lead of the night with 10 seconds to play, scoring his first two points of the season and the final two of the game from the foul line.
The Terriers will take a well-deserved break for Thanksgiving before traveling to William & Mary on Saturday. Tip is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. from Kaplan Arena in Williamsburg, Va., with the Terriers looking to avenge a 63-60 loss to the Tribe last year in Spartanburg.
Postgame Notes:- Jack Morris sat on the bench as Wofford's honorary coach.
- Junior Zach Korkowski scored his first two points of the season in his 2014-15 debut. He also went for a rebound.
- Freshman Bobby Perez made his Wofford debut, subbing in with 2:21 remaining.
- Sophomores Jeremiah Tate and Eric Wagenlander also made their season debuts.
- The Terriers are off to their best start of the program's NCAA Div. I era, and best overall since 1993-94 (13-1).
- The meeting was the first in series history between Wofford and Ohio Valley.
