SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Despite being outscored by 14 points in the second half, Wofford held off VMI to defeat the Keydets 95-84 at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium on Thursday night, winning its 13th game in a row and improving to 22-4 overall and 14-0 in Southern Conference play.
"We just won our 22nd game of the year and we're 14-0 in the league," said Wofford head coach Mike Young. "That's pretty darn good and we should feel great about that."
Sophomore point guard Storm Murphy led Wofford with a career-high 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting, while Fletcher Magee totaled 18 points, knocking down five 3-pointers and passing Jerry West (West Virginia) and Dom Flora (Washington & Lee) to move into eighth place all-time in SoCon scoring history (2,324). Chevez Goodwin grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds, adding six points in just 15 minutes of play as all 10 Terriers that saw action on Thursday scored at least five points in the win.
VMI came out firing to start, taking an 8-2 advantage before Murphy would score seven unanswered himself to put the Terriers out in front. The Keydets kept the game close until Wofford's big men began to establish dominance, getting buckets from Cameron Jackson, Keve Aluma and Goodwin to extend the lead to six.Â
"Coming out right away, we have plays drawn up for certain guys," Murphy said. "But if they break down I have to be ready, and kind of like ETSU, I found my shot early tonight."
After Murphy and Magee each hit a pair of 3-pointers, Donovan Theme-Love, Trevor Stumpe and Ryan Larson all connected from downtown, as the lead ballooned to 25 at the break (53-28).
VMI would not go away easily in the second, rattling off 16 straight points to cut the Wofford lead to just nine points with under 10 minutes to play in the game. After a Mike Young timeout, the SoCon Player of the Week (Magee) knocked down his fourth 3-pointer of the game to stop the run and make the score 76-64 in favor of the Terriers.
"We were taking on a little bit of water, and we needed something," said Young. "And he (Magee) made a big one for us as he's done so many times in his career."
On the next possession, Stumpe found Goodwin in the lane for a jam and Magee followed that up with his fifth three of the night to push the Terriers' lead back to 15. The Keydets continued to hang around, trimming the Wofford advantage again to nine with 30 seconds to play, but a pair of free throws from Murphy gave the sophomore his new career high (17 vs. The Citadel 1/6/18), as Wofford picked up its 22nd win of the season.
"I want to give all the credit to my teammates and to God," said Murphy. "I'm blessed to get to play in such an awesome arena with the team that we have, and it's just so much fun."
Wofford has a quick turnaround, hosting UNCG, who is currently ranked second in the Southern Conference, on Saturday at 7 p.m.
"Our guys understand what's in front of them," Young said. "We got a grinder coming in here on Saturday, and they'll answer the bell."
