UNC-G downs VMI by 16 in Lexington....

[edit -- additional scores: Furple up healthy on da Bearz nearing the half; Chatt up 5 on El Cid at the half; Sammie about to finish off WCU big in B'ham.]

[further edit: Mr. Smith reeled off a big 27 vs. Citadel as the Mocs pulled away. Mr. De Sousa 15 with 14 boards and 3 rejections. No comebacks in the other games.]

Sparty edges the Woofers in G'boro in a scratch-and-claw final 6 minutes, 58-54. Woofers led with 1 minute left.
B.J. Mack 18 and 7 - but with also 7 TOs. Kobe Langley 17 for Sparty.

that terrible, awful. irrelevant Western team? up 43-38 over Chattanooga 11:49 left in game

(01-12-2022 08:26 PM)RodShaw2 Wrote:  that terrible, awful. irrelevant Western team? up 43-38 over Chattanooga 11:49 left in game

Putting their foot on the gas. Now up by 13.

Western Carolina 70 Chattanooga 59,
Now Chattanooga was a bit short-handed (Covid?)
Missing Jean-Baptiste, but he isn't that much of difference-maker/


But still.. That's baskeball

Catamounts end up walking over the Mocs, 70-59, despite Mr. Smith's gaudy 33 and 9. Chatt 4/25 from deep. Take out Mr. Smith's contribution.............and the rest of the team went 1/18. That's like, sad. No other Moc with more than 7. Jean-Baptiste didn't play, I believe because of COVID protocol. Robinson and Woolbright 15 and 14, respectively.

College basketball is crazy in the COVID era

Last night............

All kinds of big numbers on display in Macon. Former Vol/Buc (sorta)/Deamon Deacon and current Bear Jalen Johnson stroked it for 30, including an amazing 8/8 from deep as Mercer out-shot VMI 97-91. Haase added a nice 28, and Glisson III added yet another 21, for 3 20+ point scorers in one game. And 51 of those 97 points were 3-balls, and the Bears hit SEVENTEEN of them. (And only 11 2-pters.) Both teams shot it from out there at over 50%. In the other unis.............Jake Stephens was no slouch, with a manly 34 and 7. Keydets were down 18 at the break, but made it a game.

In Charleston.........Hayden Brown went for 24 to help pull the Bulldogs back from 15 down at the half (sitting on 18) to go on and edge UNC-G 74-69. Big numbers NOT on display in this game.

So....................halfway through winter now...................Furple, Chatt, and Mercer are the only teams left with only 1 loss. Anybody's game........

(01-14-2022 09:03 AM)posterformerlyknownasthedoctor Wrote:  Last night............

All kinds of big numbers on display in Macon. Former Vol/Buc (sorta)/Deamon Deacon and current Bear Jalen Johnson stroked it for 30, including an amazing 8/8 from deep as Mercer out-shot VMI 97-91. Haase added a nice 28, and Glisson III added yet another 21, for 3 20+ point scorers in one game. And 51 of those 97 points were 3-balls, and the Bears hit SEVENTEEN of them. (And only 11 2-pters.) Both teams shot it from out there at over 50%. In the other unis.............Jake Stephens was no slouch, with a manly 34 and 7. Keydets were down 18 at the break, but made it a game.

In Charleston.........Hayden Brown went for 24 to help pull the Bulldogs back from 15 down at the half (sitting on 18) to go on and edge UNC-G 74-69. Big numbers NOT on display in this game.

A really wild game. VMI ends up outshooting the Bears by percentage, but Mercer held on and never gave up the lead (VMI got it down to 2 late). That Jake Stephens is really good.

Furple and Chatt going back-and-forth ~6 minutes left.

Woofers down WCU.

Keydets hold of El Cid.

Mercer handles UNC-G.

[edit: Marcus Foster missed a layup at the buzzer to allow Chatt to win by 2.]

Mercer beats Citadel for their 3rd win in a row. Now on to ETSU for their 4th game within 7 days. The Citadel was a makeup game and it really jammed up the schedule. Kamar Robertson didn't play @ Citadel, yet he was on the bench. I'm unsure if they are trying to keep key players fresh with this schedule, or if he's injured.

Jean-Baptiste is back, and played 34 minutes for the Mocs last night as they downed Sparty in G'boro. He didn't shoot well, and had 5 TOs, but dished 5. Mocs won the board battle by 10, but also 'won' the TO 'battle' with 17. Mr. Smith tossed in 22, and Keyshaun Langley went for 21 for G'boro.

Elsewhere......................in Lexington.........VMI added to Samford's woes with a 99-80 pasting. 69 total 3s launched in the game, with the Keydets hitting 53% of theirs. With outside sniping like that, Stephens didn't lead them in scoring this game. Instead, Curfman and little Honor Huff did damage with 23 and 21, respectively. Just those two together were 15/25, with 11/19 of that from deep. Sizzle. 5 Keydets went into double digits total.

Tomorrow....................Chatt goes north to Lexington for a 1 PM game, and Furple takes a short jaunt on I-85 over to Spartanburg. Among other SoCon games. Might be interesting to see if Chatt can guard the Keydets on the perimeter. I'm betting they can - at least enough to control the game.

Keydets let a big Moc-fish of the hook, and UTC takes even more command by going 2-0 on this trip.

Only potential upset in the SoCon (unless one counts the ETSU/UNC-G game, which I don't) is that Sammie is up 4 on Mercer at the half.

Sammie did finish off Mercer, who turned it over 19 times to Sammie's 8. Glover led everybody with 20.

So we're seeing the "tiers" of the conference shape up just a tad, but still very muddy in the middle.

Not that it matters much to the Bucs now...........but da Mercer Bears came from pretty far down (not sure how much biggest lead was), 'winning' the second half by 13, to claw back to a 67-62 victory over the Woofers. Bears shot 44% from deep, with Jalen Johnson going 4/6 from out there on his way to 21. Big Man Mack went for 16 for the Terriers.

In another perspective.....................ETSU has at least as many league losses as all other SoCon teams - other than WCU.

So we have UTC and Furman as the clear 1 and 2, while the rest of the league jockeys for the next positions. UTC has been sitting around 40 in the NET. They’d have a chance at an at large if they win out and then lose in the tourney.

Furple trying to match the Bucs from 3-land, being 14/20 from out there against El Cid, putting them up 63-31 at the half. Not a misprint.

Don't know what El Cid did to deserve such a prolonged and serious woodshed visit, but it must have been pretty bad. Furple up FORTY now, not even to the halfway point of the second half.

I jinxed UTC pretty good saying they might win out!