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Finals: Tournament ends in heartbreak for ASU
 Cameron Rundles scored 20 points and Noah Dahlman chipped in 10 as Wofford defeated Appalachian State 56-51 to claim the 2010 Southern Conference Tournament title.
The Terriers overwhelmed the Apps early on as they jumped out to a 21-5 lead midway through the first half. The Mountaineers never fully recovered.
Wofford entered the locker room with a 33-18 advantage.
The Apps came out in the second and fought to get back into the game. Appalachian trailed 48-44 with 2:24 to play after Ryann Abraham converted a free throw after being fouled and hitting a 3-pointer.
However, ASU would get no closer the rest of the way.
Donald Sims had his worst performance of the season, totaling just nine points on 2-15 shooting. Kellen Brand was also held in check, scoring four points and not hitting a field goal.
Appalachian’s record fell to 22-12.
Semifinal 2: Mountaineers obliterate Charleston, advance to finals
Kellen Brand poured in a career high 37 points on 14-19 shooting, and Appalachian State took it to the College of Charleston 77-54.
The Mountaineers took the lead at 9-7 with 15:49 to play and did not look back. Appalachian built its lead steadily during the first half, claiming a 40-24 advantage at halftime.
The Apps’ assault did not let up after the half as Charleston could get no closer than 16 points in the last 20 minutes.
Appalachian shot lights out, hitting 56 percent of its field goal attempts.
Josh Hunter contributed 12 points and eight rebounds, and Ike Butts tallied a double-double with 10 points and 11 boards. The two post players helped ASU score 40 points in the paint.
The Mountaineer defense was stellar, holding C of C to 28 percent shooting on the night. All-Conference performer Andrew Goudelock mustered 19 points on 6-21 shooting.
The win put Appalachian in its first SoCon Tournament final since 2000. The Apps are 2-6 all-time in the tourney final.
The final between ASU and Wofford will be televised nationally by ESPN2 tomorrow at 9 p.m.
Semifinal 1: Wofford destroys Western, 77-58
Terry Martin came off the Wofford bench to score 17 points in 18 minutes, and Wofford defeated Western Carolina 77-58 in the semifinals of the SoCon Tournament.
Wofford is set to play in its first ever championship game.
The Terriers led for the majority of the game, with WCU never able to get closer than eight points down in the second half.
Wofford will face the winner of the Charleston-Appalachian State semifinal tomorrow at 9 p.m.
DAY TWO RECAP
SoCon fans will be getting exactly the matchups the were hoping for, with the four top teams in the conference advancing to the semifinals.
Western Carolina and Wofford will square off tonight at 6, and Appalachian State meets Charleston at 8:30.
Donald Sims and Andrew Goudelock delivered the two best performances of the tournament thus far. Sims scored 30 points in a victory over the Citadel, and Goudelock dropped 27 in a blowout over Chattanooga.
Keep checking The Appalachian Online for updates of the today's action.
Quarterfinal 4: Charleston victory overshadowed by scary moment
Andrew Goudelock scored 27 points, including 24 in the first half, and College of Charleston beat Chattanooga 96-69 in the last quarterfinal on Saturday.
Goudelock's performance, which included seven 3-pointers, was unfortunately not the biggest story of the game.
Chattanooga guard Ty Patterson collapsed on the court midway through the second half during a timeout. Patterson stayed down for several minutes while he received medical attention.
Patterson was placed on a stretcher and was carried out of the arena. He was rushed via ambulance to Carolina Medical Center.
SoCon and Chattanooga officials were unsure of exactly what happened, but Patterson was in stable condition and was fully conscious when he arrived at the hospital.
The Appalachian Online will update Patterson's condition as more information becomes available.
Charleston will face Appalachian State Sunday night at 8:30 in the semifinals.
Quarterfinal 3: Sims drops 30 as ASU overcomes Citadel, 71-61
Donald Sims scored 30 points on 10-19 shooting and Appalachian State took out the Citadel 71-61 in the third quarterfinal game of the 2010 SoCon Tournament.
Sims started the game by scoring the Mountaineers’ first seven points, but he did not score another bucket until the final two seconds of the first half.
Neither team could get much separation in the first half. Appalachian led by as many as six in the first 20 minutes, but entered the locker room with a 27-24 lead.
The Apps asserted themselves after the half.
ASU pounded the ball inside more in the second, as Ike Butts scored nine of his 11 points after halftime.
Sims’ jumper with 15:29 remaining gave the Mountaineers their first double digit lead of the night, 38-28.
The Citadel fought back from the deficit, but could not get closer than four points in the second half.
Appalachian grabbed 17 more rebounds than El Cid, and the Apps scored 30 points in the paint.
The Mountaineers will face the winner of the College of Charleston-Chattanooga game tomorrow at 8:30 p.m. in Time Warner Cable Arena.
Quarterfinal 2: Wofford downs UNC-G, 58-47
Ben Stywall gave UNC Greensboro 18 points and 11 rebounds, but it was not enough to lift the Spartans to a victory as Wofford defeated UNC-G 59-47 in the quarterfinals of the SoCon Tournament.
UNC-G led 10-7 four minutes into the game before things turned. As has been the pattern during this tournament, the favorite stepped up its defense, and shots stopped falling for the underdog.
Wofford went on a 17-4 run to open up a 25-14 lead with just over seven minutes remaining. The Spartans only hit two shots in 14 minutes during the Terrier spurt.
Greensboro regained its composure towards the end of the first half. A tip in by UNC-G’s Brandon Evans made the score 28-22 at intermission.
Wofford came out and regained control of the game by scoring the first nine points of the second half.
The squads battled back and forth for most of the second half with the Terriers unable to put UNC-G away.
However, every time the Spartans got the lead down to single digits, Wofford was able to hold Greensboro at bay.
Noah Dahlman led WC with 13 points. Junior Salters and Jamar Diggs chipped in 12 apiece.
Wofford plays Western Carolina at 6 p.m. Sunday night.
Quarterfinal 1: Western easily handles Elon, 68-57
Richie Gordon poured in 16 points on 7-9 shooting and collected eight rebounds, and Western Carolina defeated Elon 68-57 in quarterfinal action of the SoCon Tournament.
Elon led 14-8 with 13:57 left in the first half before Western locked down on defense and Elon went ice cold from the field. The Catamounts outscored the Phoenix 21-1 over the next eight minutes to completely take Elon out of the game.
The Phoenix somewhat recovered late in the half to enter the locker room trailing 31-23.
Elon battled hard in the second half, but got no closer than five points down with 16:14 remaining in the contest.
Western’s defense was stellar throughout, holding the Phoenix to 30 percent shooting on the afternoon.
Chris Long led the Phoenix with 15 points on 3-10 shooting. Eleven of Elon’s 15 made field goals were 3-pointers.
WCU killed Elon on the glass, as the Cats out-rebounded the Phoenix 44-25. Western also outscored Elon by 30 points in the paint, and received 39 points from its bench.
The Catamounts will play either Wofford or UNC Greensboro, pending the outcome of the second quarterfinal of the afternoon.
DAY ONE RECAP
Aside from Elon's upset of Davidson, there were no surprises on the first day of action in the 2010 Southern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament.
UNC-G outlasted Furman 66-65, the Citadel downed Samford 55-43 and Chattanooga beat down Georgia Southern 82-62.
The tournament resumes tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m. when Elon meets Western Carolina in the first of four quarterfinals on the day.
Be sure to keep checking The Appalachian Online for updates on the progress.
Chattanooga woodsheds Georgia Southern, 82-62
Chattanooga built a 28-point second half lead before cruising to an 82-62 victory over Georgia Southern in a game that was not as close as the final score indicated.
The Mocs torched the nets, shooting 66 percent for the game, including 85 percent (18-21) in the second half.
UTC started out slowly, not scoring their first field goal until the 15:01 mark of the first half.
The Mocs began to pull away with 8:48 left in the half, scoring 13 straight points to open up a 34-22 advantage. Chattanooga led 40-29 at the break.
Chattanooga used a 10-2 run to start the second half to put the Eagles to bed. UTC steadily increased its lead, eventually leading by 28 with 12:04 to play.
Ridge McKeither led the Mocs with 19 points on 9-11 shooting and nine rebounds. Chris Early earned a double-double with 10 points and 12 boards.
UTC plays the College of Charleston tomorrow night at 9:30 p.m.
Citadel locks down on defense, cruises past Samford
Ultimately, it came down to free throws.
The Citadel went 16-18 from the charity stripe. Samford only hit 6-12.
El Cid came out on top of the Battle of the Bulldogs, as they defeated Samford 55-43 in first round action of the SoCon Tournament.
The opening of the game looked promising for Samford, as they hit their first two 3-pointers to jump out to a 6-0 lead before anyone broke a sweat.
Things quickly turned, however, as the Citadel stepped up its defensive effort and held SU to 29 percent shooting in the first half. After trailing Samford 11-9, the Citadel used an 11-0 run to gain control they would not relinquish.
El Cid led 27-18 at the half.
The lead ballooned to 18 points midway through second half, as for a time it looked like Samford would never hit another shot.
Samford finally rediscovered its stroke late in the half, pulling the score within six at 49-43 with 1:23 to play.
But, SU would get no closer. El Cid hit all its free throws in the final minute to clinch its first SoCon Tournament win since 2006.
Cameron Wells led the Citadel with 17 points, and Harrison DuPont supplied an additional 13.
For the game, the smothering Citadel defense held Samford to 31 percent from the field.
The Citadel faces Appalachian State Saturday night at 7 p.m.
UNC-G survives late Furman push
Furman mounted a furious rally in the final minute of play, but it was not enough to overcome UNC-Greensboro as the Spartans downed the Paladins 66-65 in first round of SoCon Tournament action.
The game was physical from the opening tip, as the squads combined for 30 fouls (15 each) in the opening half.
UNC-G dominated for much of the first 20 minutes. The Spartans led 28-15 with 3:01 to play in the first half on the strength of a 14-1 run. Furman chipped away at the lead to trail Greensboro 28-22 at the half.
Neither team shot the ball well in the first, with UNC-G shooting 33 percent and Furman shooting 26 percent.
The Paladins continued to erode the Spartan lead after halftime. Furman cut the deficit to one point midway through the second half, but they could never get over the hump.
Greensboro seemed to have a comfortable seven point lead with one minute to play, but a combination of missed free throws by the Spartans and made field goals by Furman allowed the Paladins to stay in the game.
Up 66-63 with five seconds left to play, UNC-G’s Mikko Koivisto missed his second foul shot. Furman’s Noah States rebounded the ball and sent an outlet pass to Amu Saaka.
Needing a 3-pointer to send the game into overtime, Saaka inexplicably drove all the way to the hoop and dunked as time expired.
UNC-G plays Wofford, the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament, tomorrow at 4:30 p.m.
Elon stuns Davidson, 66-59
Elon, the team with the worst record in the Southern Conference, pulled off a stunning upset in the first game of the 2010 Men’s SoCon Tournament, knocking off Davidson 66-59 Friday afternoon.
The Phoenix held the Wildcats to 35.6 percent shooting for the game. Davidson only hit five of their 24 3-point attempts.
After tying the game at 23-23 with just over seven minutes left in the first half, Elon closed with an 11-4 spurt to build a 34-27 halftime lead.
Elon slowly added to its lead over the first eight minutes of the second half, leading by as many as 11 with 11:57 to play.
However, Davidson would not go quietly into the night, as the Wilcats embarked on a 12-1 run over the next five minutes to tie the game 52-52.
The Wildcats briefly took the lead at 53-52, but Elon quickly took it back. The Phoenix hit six free throws in the final 43 seconds to seal the victory.
Adam Constantine and Chris Long lead Elon, with 16 and 15 points respectively. Will Archambault and J.P. Kuhlman combined for 23 points on 7-29 shooting for Davidson.
Elon advances to play Western Carolina tomorrow at 2 p.m.
Stories by: ROB JENKINS, Sports Editor
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