BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The defending Southern Conference Tournament champions began the league season in the win column, holding off a late Samford run en route to a 68-65 victory, Saturday afternoon at the Pete Hanna Center.
 
Wofford was up the entire second half and took a 13-point lead with 2:51 remaining. Samford responded with five straight and cut the deficit to just four points with only 9.9 seconds remaining.
 
Sophomore Eric Garcia got fouled on the ensuing possession and iced the game away, hitting both free throws to build the lead back to six. Samford's Christen Cunningham hit a shot at the buzzer that made the final margin just three.
 
"I wish we could have handled some things better down the stretch, but any road win in our conference is a good win," said Wofford head coach Mike Young. "Samford didn't quit – they won four straight coming in and were definitely a tough out. Coach Padgett is doing some good things with his program and they will give other teams a lot of trouble.
 
"We've got them again at our place next week and we'll have to give 100 percent if we want to come away with another win."
 
Wofford (10-4, 1-0 SoCon) began the SoCon season with a win for the second straight season over Samford (7-9, 0-3 SoCon). The Terriers also began last year's league campaign in Birmingham, coming out on top 71-61.
 
Senior Karl Cochran became part of Wofford's top 10 all-time scorers Saturday. Heading into the game, he sat 15 points behind Robert Mickle (1981-85) for 10th and finished the game with exactly that. The Marietta, Georgia native tied Mickle for 10th with his 1,572nd career point on a free throw with four seconds left.
 
Starting his second game with a fractured jaw, Garcia was impressive, once more. The sophomore point guard finished with 14 points, five assists, two steals and no turnovers, tying a season-high in minutes with 31.
 
For Samford, Cunningham finished with a game-high 20 points and was joined in double figures with 15 points form Darius Jones-Gibson and 10 from Michael Bradley.
 
Aside from individual efforts, all 10 Terriers that played finished in the scoring column. Cochran, Garcia and junior Spencer Collins completed a trio of double-figure scorers. Freshman Cameron Jackson scored a career-high six points and senior Lee Skinner came away with a game-high eight rebounds.
 
Wofford finished the afternoon shooting 47 percent (22-47 FG), overcoming a rough 1-for-10 start. The Terriers stayed close by playing good defense, trailing just 9-4 through the drought.
 
Collins snapped the Terriers out of it with a slam and Wofford shot 9-for-15 the rest of the half. Senior John Swinton checked in and made an impact with four straight points and Wofford used a 9-0 run through the final minutes to regain a 25-22 lead.
 
It was all Wofford to start the second, beginning 4-of-4 from the field and building its lead to nine on Cochran's first deep ball of the half. Eight minutes in, Wofford's lead hit double digits before increasing to a dozen on a pair of free throws by Skinner.
 
Samford came back with a 10-2 run to get within four, but Wofford responded with its biggest run of the game. The Terriers scored 10 straight points and took a 14-point lead on another Cochran triple, going on top 55-41 at the 6:26 mark.
 
SU gave Wofford another late push, but the Terriers hung on to start the conference season 1-0.
 
The Terriers now head to Chattanooga to take on the Mocs (8-6, 1-0) on Monday inside McKenzie Arena at 8 p.m. The game will be televised by the American Sports Network.
 
Postgame Notes:
- Karl Cochran tied Robert Mickle for 10th place on Wofford's all-time scoring list
- Cochran had four blocks, setting a new career-high
- Cameron Jackson set a new career-high with six points
- Wofford improved to 8-3 in the all-time series against Samford, winning the last three meetings
- Head coach Mike Young earned his 199th career victory
- Wofford won its SoCon opener for the second straight season, improving to 9-9 in league openers since joining the conference in 1997-98
- Wofford's all-time SoCon record improved to 144-144
- Wofford won its 41st consecutive road game when leading by 10 or more in the second half