SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Terriers opened the week and month of February on the right note, downing SoCon leader ETSU, 67-62, at the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium on Monday night to move into first place with an 8-2 mark in the Southern Conference and 11-5 overall record. A back-and-forth affair that saw the Bucs (10-6, 6-2 SoCon) lead for 23:59 of the contest, Wofford would rally late in the second half to notch its eighth SoCon victory.
"I knew we'd have to settle in. We were down two starters in Morgan [Safford] and Sam [Godwin], but you know the theme around here at Wofford for a long time. It's next man up," said head coach
Jay McAuley of the team's resilience for the win. "Everybody's pulling for each other, pulling their weight, doing their job and, over time, we got more and more comfortable with what we needed to do."
Tied at 51-51 with 8:07 to play,
Max Klesmit corralled a second-chance put-back layup to give Wofford its fifth and final lead of the second half, while also sparking a 7-0 run that saw another Klesmit finish and timely three from
Tray Hollowell to hold a 58-51 advantage (5:24).
Back-to-back threes from ETSU's Damari Monsanto, who led the Bucs with a game-high 24 points, closed the gap to one, 58-57, before
Storm Murphy came down hitting a shake-and-bake step-back from the top of the key to answer with a 60-57 margin (3:01).
Monsanto free throws rekindled a one-point difference (60-59), though, it'd be the final straw for the Bucs, as
B.J. Mack turned on the clutch factor with back-to-back scores that ultimately sucked the life out of the then-league-leading Bucs to hold a 65-59 lead with 37 seconds left.
"I've always dreamed of playing in big-time games," said Mack of his role in tonight's contest. "Going against [teams] trying to be first-place in the conference and then making big-time shots like that. So it's all a dream come true right now."
Left wide open off a
Tray Hollowell drive that resulted in a throwback, Mack spotted up for a huge 3-pointer from the right wing that boosted a four-point cushion for the Terriers, 63-59 (1:18).
"During the play, they told me to set a step-up [screen]," said Mack of the play. "So, when I set the step-up, I saw both men going towards ... I was like
big time shot, I've got to knock it down. So I knocked it down."
After a Bucs turnover gave Wofford the opportunity to extend its lead, Mack would cash another clutch pull-up jumper from just beyond the charity stripe to bust the spread back to six and force a timeout with 37 seconds to play.
Out of the timeout, the Terriers would successfully defend two ETSU attempts at a comeback, as the Bucs would foul, seeing two free throws from Klesmit, prior to hitting a desperation three with 10 seconds left before ultimately falling short at the buzzer, 67-62.
"Some headache things, right. We weren't perfect, but we were tough man," added McAuley of the Terriers. "We were tough and it was contributions from Max [Klesmit], who was a point guard in high school and playing the four and grabbing rebounds. B.J. [Mack] was awesome. He played the three in our game at Richmond. But these guys are just tough and resilient and I love coaching them."
Senior
Storm Murphy led with a team-high 19 points on 50 percent shooting from the field (7-of-14), including 4-of-8 from downtown, two assists and two rebounds. Classmate
Tray Hollowell followed with 15 points on 6-of-12 shots, hitting 3-of-8 from beyond the arc (37.5%), to go with two rebounds, two assists and two steals in 38 minutes.
Freshman
Max Klesmit matched a career-high in his first career start for the Terriers, recording 14 points on 5-for-6 from the floor, nailing 2-of-3 shots from deep (66.7%), and pulling down a team-high five rebounds in a career-high 30 minutes.
Sophomore
B.J. Mack rounds out the double-figure scorers for Wofford with 10 points, four rebounds and an assist in 22 minutes.
Sophomore
Messiah Jones tallied six points and four rebounds, while junior
Ryan Larson completes Wofford's scoring on the night with three points, four rebounds and a team-high three assists.
The Terriers entered tonight's contest second in the league in scoring defense, holding teams to 67.2 points.
Despite trailing by as many as 15 points in the first half, Wofford held the Bucs to just 62 points – ETSU's second lowest scoring total through conference play – on 40.4 percent from the floor (23-of-57) and 35.5 percent from 3-point range (11-for-31).
The Terriers are 7-1 overall and 4-1 in SoCon games when playing at home this season, as Wofford finished the contest 51.0 percent from the field (25-for-49) and hit 12-of-28 shots from beyond the arc (42.9%) to come away with its second straight victory.
Wofford ranks 11th in the nation for 3-point field goals per game (10.5), as tonight marks the 10th game this season the Terriers have made 10-plus threes in a contest. It also marked the 11th time this season that three or more Terriers hit at least two 3-pointers in a contest.
The contest saw seven lead changes, as Wofford led for only 10 minutes of the game, with the final eight minutes being the decider.
The Terriers were edged in rebounds for the contest, 32-30, though, Wofford has now won four SoCon games this year grabbing fewer rebounds than its opponent.
Next, Wofford (11-5, 8-2 SoCon) concludes its three-game home stand with the VMI Keydets, hosting VMI (9-9, 4-5 SoCon) at the Jerry Richardson Stadium on Wednesday, February 3, for a 7 p.m. tip.
