SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Leading 58-57 with just under seven minutes to play in the second half, the Wofford men's basketball team outscored North Carolina Central 19-2 down the stretch to grab a 77-59 victory at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium on Monday night.

"They're a well-coached team," Wofford head coach McAuley said of N.C. Central. "But down the stretch I think we did enough to get out and run and get some easy shots, and sure enough, shots started to fall for us."

Offensively, Nathan Hoover led the Terriers with 18 points, while junior Tray Hollowell scored a career-high 17 on 7-of-9 shooting, knocking down three 3-pointers and grabbing two steals. Chevez Goodwin and Isaiah Bigelow each totaled 12 points, while Messiah Jones hauled in a team-high seven rebounds.

Wofford shot 53.7 percent from the floor and 40.7 percent from 3-point range as a team, with Hoover, Hollowell, Storm Murphy and Isaiah Bigelow all connecting from downtown. The Terriers, whose bench outscored N.C. Central's 35-16, did a lot of its damage in the lane, scoring 36 points in the paint.

"I thought it was the best night this year for our bench," McAuley said. "And not just scoring, but in other areas as well. We need those guys to give us that two-way player mentality. Come in and be reliable defensively, and be simple on offense. I'm really proud of our guys gutting out that win."

The win gives the Terriers a 4-4 overall record so far, as Wofford, who had not played a home game since November 12, remains in Spartanburg on Saturday, hosting Gardner-Webb at 7 p.m.

"We have to continue to get healthy," McAuley said. "But we've got a really good ball club coming in here on Saturday. Central wins their league almost every year, Gardner-Webb just won theirs. All of these games are going to pay off in the long run for us. We're excited for the opportunity to host Gardner-Webb."

The Eagles drew first blood, going up 4-0 before Goodwin stole the ball and took it the length of the floor for the jam to get the Terriers on the board. Bigelow would give Wofford its first lead around the five-minute mark, forcing an N.C. Central timeout minutes later after he and Hollowelll connected from behind the arc.

The Terriers' ball movement began to showcase itself, as Goodwin set up Bigelow with a no-look pass for a jam, getting rewarded the next time down the floor when Murphy split the defense and fed Goodwin for a dunk that made the advantage eight (29-21). Ryan Larson would found Hoover for a transition three before taking it to the tin for a bucket as Wofford went into the break ahead 40-31.

"My guards are always looking for me and I love them for it," said Goodwin of Murphy and Larson. "They are going to get into the paint and cause a lot of attention and I just have to be ready if I get the ball."

Larson picked up where he left off in the second, feeding Goodwin for a slam before Bigelow converted a 3-point play to keep the lead at nine. The Eagles clawed back, however, cutting the deficit to two after a Jibri Blount steal and slam made the score 48-46 with 13 minutes left to play. Blount, who had a game-high 23 points and 12 rebounds, continued to keep N.C. Central in the game, scoring in the lane and knocking down a 3-pointer to knot the game up at 52-52.

"They have a heck of a forward that knows how to play," McAuley said of Blount. "He plays within himself. He can rebound and shoot it and he created a lot of issues for us as far as trying to put all eyes on him, but I thought we did a really good job of that late."

Goodwin would answer with a 3-point play of his own and Hoover knocked down a tray to snap Wofford out of its slump. After Blount pulled the Eagles to within one, Murphy knocked down a pair of 3-pointers as the Terriers extended their lead to 10 with three minutes to go. Coming out of the media timeout, Hollowell scored a fast-break layup and knocked down his third 3-pointer of the night to help seal the victory for Wofford.

"It started with stops. And as a coach, I'll be happy to show that to our guys," McAuley said of the strong finish. "If we can play that hard the last four minutes, we can certainly play that hard to start the game because obviously that led to some pretty good baskets for us."