SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford College men's basketball team defeated Presbyterian College 76-63 on Thursday night at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium. A 6-0 run by the Terriers to end the first half gave them a seven-point lead and a strong second half on both ends of the court put the game in the win column.
With the win the Terriers' record moves to 5-3 to start the season, while the Blue Hose are 2-7 overall.
Messiah Jones led the Terriers in scoring with 16 points and he added four rebounds.
Jackson Paveletzke added 13 points,
Carson McCorkle had 11 points (all in the second half) and
B.J. Mack had ten points.
Amarri Tice had five rebounds to lead the team. The Blue Hose were led by Crosby James with 18 points, as he was 4-of-5 from behind the arc.
"It was a physical game and one that you like to play in if you wear the black and gold," said head coach
Jay McAuley. "We handled some really good moments and in some moments we saw we still need to make some strides. I thought in the second half we really locked down, made some hustle plays and got some more deflections. To hold that team to only five second-chance points and to out-rebound them was a huge part of the game. A lot of these teams are testing us in so many different ways and in ways that will help us down the road."
The Blue Hose took advantage of Wofford turnovers early in the game to take a 7-4 lead after five minutes of play. The game was tied at ten and then Presbyterian was able to hold the lead until Wofford took an 18-17 lead with 8:54 on the clock after a pair of free throws by
Amarri Tice. A three and a lay-up by the Blue Hose enabled them to take a 22-18 lead. Wofford regained the advantage at 27-26 after a pair of free throws by
B.J. Mack and then had a 31-28 lead with two free throws by
Corey Tripp and a jumper by Tripp. A 6-0 run with back-to-back buckets by
Messiah Jones and a lay-up by
Jackson Paveletzke gave Wofford a 37-30 lead at the half.
Wofford opened the second half with a
Messiah Jones basket and the Terriers were able to extend the lead to 43-34 after the first four minutes of play. The Blue Hose had back-to-back three pointers to cut the score to 43-40 a minute later.
Adam Silas came up with a bucket and a three pointer as Wofford was able to push the lead back up to 50-42. Over the next four minutes,
Carson McCorkle hit three three-pointers and had a fast-break lay-up off a turnover to give the Terriers a 63-50 lead with 7:18 left in the game. A three-pointer and a lay-up by
Corey Tripp kept the lead at 72-55 with four minutes remaining. After a quick 8-2 run by the Blue Hose to make it 74-63 with a minute left on the clock, a bucket by
Jackson Paveletzke gave the Terriers the final margin of 76-63.
Quick Hits
- From three, Wofford shot 35.7% (5-of-14) despite not hitting one in the first half, while Presbyterian was at 47.4% (9-of-19).
- The Terriers went 15-of-16 (93.8%) from the free throw line, while Presbyterian was 0-of-3 (0.0%).
- Wofford out-rebounded Presbyterian by a 23 to 19 margin.
- There were seven lead changes in the game and four ties.
- It was the 177th all-time meeting between the two teams, with Wofford leading 107-70.
Up Next
The Terriers is back on the road for a Saturday afternoon contest at Vanderbilt in Nashville. The 4:00 p.m. CT (5:00 p.m. ET) game can be seen on SEC Network+.
