SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Led by a game-high 15 points from sophomore Eric Garcia, the Wofford men's basketball team won its ninth in 10 tries, defeating Charleston Southern, 64-58, Wednesday night at Benjamin Johnson Arena.
 
Wofford trailed by as many as 10 points in the first half and clawed back to lead by one at the break. The Terriers then picked up where they left off to start the second, using a 14-3 run between the two halves to go up by five.
 
CSU made a push late. With the Terriers leading by nine, the Buccaneers scored 11 straight and led 54-52 with 3:40 to play.
 
Wofford (9-2) took the punch and responded. Cochran found a lay-in to bring the game back level and the Terriers slammed the door with a 9-1 run. Garcia banked home a triple from the top of the key to put the Terriers up by six and ended the run with two free throws, resulting in a 63-55 lead with only 39 seconds to spare.
 
"We won this game with toughness, grit and determination," head coach Mike Young stated. "We have a team that won't let each other down. [Charleston Southern] took the lead with under four to play and it could have went one of two ways – we were either going to cave in or buckle up and find a way out."
 
Wofford held Charleston Southern (5-4) to just 36.4 percent from the field and 23.1 percent from three. It was the sixth game this season the Terriers forced an opponent to shoot less than 40 percent and they have walked away victorious all six times.
 
Garcia's 15 points headed a trio of double-figure scorers. Junior Spencer Collins had 11 to go with a pair of rebounds, assists and steals, while sophomore Jaylen Allen continued to provide a spark off the bench with 10 points. The Johnson City, Tennessee native is averaging 10 points over his last six outings and has now scored in double figures six times on the year.
 
On a night when senior Karl Cochran struggled with his shot, the team's leading scorer found other ways to contribute. He scored nine points on 4-of-15 from the floor, but went for a game-high eight rebounds and a pair of season-highs of five assists and five steals.
 
Wofford ended the game shooting 42.9 percent, hitting 4-of-20 from 3-point land.
 
The Terriers led 7-2 when Charleston Southern went on a 15-0 run to take its largest lead of the night. Wofford went 0-for-7 through a span of 6:35 and the visitors led 17-7 when Will Saunders capped the run from three.
 
Freshman Cameron Jackson brought the run to a halt with an offensive put back. It was his only two points of the night to with four rebounds and block.
 
Junior C.J. Neumann got the crowd of 1,606 at Benjamin Johnson Arena on its feet. The 6-7 forward was fed inside by Cochran and threw down a one-handed slam over CSU's Aaron Wheeler with 4:30 before the half. Wheeler also committed a foul on Neumann's dunk and the St. Paul, Minnesota native completed the 3-point play.
 
Wofford still found itself down six with 4:09 before halftime. Allen provided the spark, hitting his first three of the night and scoring five straight Terrier points. Senior Lee Skinner got two at the foul line on Wofford's final possession, putting the Terriers on top and ending the half on a 7-0 run.
 
Eight Terriers scored in the half, led by five points apiece from Allen and Neumann. CSU's Saah Nimley led all scorers with seven and went on to match Garcia's game-high 15.
 
Skinner got the second half started with back-to-back buckets inside to put the Terriers on top by five. After the Bucs came back to cut the lead to one, Collins nailed a triple and the Terriers scored 12 of the next 14 to earn their largest lead of the night, 43-32, at the 12:39 mark.
 
An Allen jumper kept the Terriers up nine with 6:38 to play, before CSU made one final push. Aaron Wheeler got it started and baskets by Saunders and Nimley followed to give the Buccaneers their first lead, 54-52, since the final minute of the first half.
 
The final four minutes belonged to Wofford, beginning with three straight buckets by Cochran, Collins and junior Justin Gordon. Paul Gombwer scored one at the foul line to bring it back to a one-possession game, but Garcia sealed the win with a 3-pointer off the glass and two free throws.
 
The Terriers head to 22nd-ranked West Virginia next Monday, Dec. 22. Tip is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. from WVU Coliseum.
 
Postgame Notes:
- Wofford continued its best start of the program's NCAA Div. I era, improving to 9-2 for the first time.
- Karl Cochran went for a season-high five steals and tied another season-high with five assists.
- Eric Garcia led the Terriers in scoring for the second time this season.
- Wofford stayed perfect at home, improving to 5-0.
- Wofford won its eighth straight game over a Big South opponent at Benjamin Johnson Arena. The Terriers haven't lost to the conference at home since 1996.
- Wofford improved to 10-11 all-time against Charleston Southern and has now won seven of the last nine against the Bucs dating back to 1975.