ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Nik Cochran scored 18 points on five 3-pointers, and Davidson won its 15th straight game, beating Georgia Southern 86-59 on Saturday in the second round of the Southern Conference tournament.
Cochran, who hadn’t cracked double figures in four straight games, including a five-point outing in the Wildcats’ 83-48 rout of Georgia Southern in both teams’ season finale, shot 5 of 7 from deep and dished out seven assists.
Tyler Kalinoski added 14 points, De’Mon Brooks 13, Jake Cohen 12, and Chris Czerapowicz 10 for the Wildcats (23-7), who ended the first half with 14 unanswered points to go into intermission ahead 45-22. Davidson, whose last loss came against Georgia Southern on Jan. 14, has led by double figures in 24 games this season.
The Wildcats, who shot a season-high 56 percent in their last win against the Eagles, matched that Saturday, hitting 28 of 50 shots.
Cleon Roberts scored 13 for Georgia Southern.
GEORGIA SOUTHERN (14-19)
Ferguson 1-4 1-2 3, Baskerville 1-7 9-9 11, Roberts 4-10 4-4 13, Bussey 2-8 3-3 7, Reed 0-4 4-4 4, Mike 1-3 0-0 2, Baynham 6-7 1-1 13, Rives 0-0 0-0 0, Daniels 1-1 0-2 2, Dunnican 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 18-47 22-25 59.
DAVIDSON (24-7)
Cohen 4-7 3-3 12, Brooks 4-5 5-8 13, Kuhlman 3-4 0-1 8, Cochran 5-7 3-4 18, Czerapowicz 4-5 1-1 10, Mejri 0-0 0-0 0, Archie II 0-1 0-0 0, Kalinoski 5-10 0-0 14, Tormey 0-1 0-0 0, Barham 1-3 0-0 2, Mackay 0-1 0-0 0, Droney 1-5 3-3 5, Belford 1-1 2-2 4, Perkey 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-50 17-22 86.
Halftime—Davidson 45-22. 3-Point Goals—Georgia Southern 1-8 (Roberts 1-4, Reed 0-2, Baskerville 0-2), Davidson 13-28 (Cochran 5-7, Kalinoski 4-9, Kuhlman 2-2, Czerapowicz 1-2, Cohen 1-3, Brooks 0-1, Mackay 0-1, Droney 0-3). Fouled Out—Baynham, Ferguson. Rebounds—Georgia Southern 28 (Baynham 7), Davidson 29 (Czerapowicz 4). Assists—Georgia Southern 4 (Reed 3), Davidson 20 (Cochran 7). Total Fouls—Georgia Southern 21, Davidson 17. A—NA.
WOMEN
CHATTANOOGA 78,
GEORGIA SOUTHERN 53
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Alex Black led Chattanooga with 13 points, and the Lady Mocs hit 11 3-pointers to earn a decision over Georgia Southern in the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference women’s basketball tournament in Kimmel Arena.
The Eagles’ season ended with an 8-23 record, while Chattanooga improved to 27-3 and moves on to the semifinals, where they face the winner of College of Charleston against Appalachian State.
Senior Meredyth Frye and sophomore Anna Claire Knight led GSU with 15 points each, while junior MiMi DuBose scored 13.
Frye finishes her career with 1,106 points and ranked 14th on the GSU career list. Knight topped the 500-point mark for her career, and DuBose moved into third on the career 3-pointers list with 140, passing her older sister, Lee.
Kayla Christopher tallied 12 points and three assists, and Faith Dupree scored 12 points off the bench. Ashlen Dewart posted eight points and seven rebounds.
The Lady Mocs made 11 of 23 from 3-point range with seven different players hitting at least one. Black led the way by going 3 of 5 from downtown.
“Chattanooga is a good team with a lot of weapons, so you know going in, you can’t cover everything,” said GSU coach Chris Vozab. “We elected to try to clog up the middle to defend their inside game, knowing we were going to give up some semi-contested 3s, and they were able to knock them down today.”
The Lady Mocs had a 10-point lead midway through the first half but the Eagles stormed back as Knight hit two jumpers, and a Dubose jumper in transition tied the score 22-22.
Chattanooga pushed back ahead, but a DuBose triple cut the margin to 35-30 with 1:52 left in the half. The Lady Mocs took over from there, outscoring GSU 7-2 for the rest of the period and opening the second frame with an 18-4 run over the first 7:40.
Black hit two triples during the run, and Taylor Hall added a third.
Two free throws by Kylie Lambert made the score 60-36 with 12:20 to play. The Eagles cut it to 19 three times but would get no closer. The Lady Mocs shot 45 percent for the game, while holding the Eagles to 32 percent.
GSU (8-23, 6-14)
Spencer 1-6 0-0 2, Sams 0-5 0-0 0, Knight 7-15 0-1 15, Frye 4-12 6-6 15, DuBose 4-8 2-2 13, Dowling 0-1 1-2 1, Cook 0-1 0-0 0, Rawls 0-1 0-0 0, Kirkland 0-1 0-0 0, Davis 1-4 0-0 2, Smith 1-3 3-4 5. Totals 18-57 12-15 53.
CHATTANOOGA (27-3, 19-1)
Hall 2-5 0-0 6, Dewart 3-6 2-3 8, Christopher 4-8 2-2 12, Black 5-8 0-0 13, Lambert 1-4 3-4 6, Payne 0-2 2-4 2, Towns 2-4 0-0 5, Downes 2-7 0-0 5, Bramblett 1-2 0-0 2, Freeman 0-0 0-0 0, Jackson 2-7 2-2 7, Dupree 6-9 0-0 12. Totals 28-62 11-15 78.
Halftime—UTC 42-32. 3-point goals—GSU 5-18 (Sams 0-3, Knight 1-2, Frye 1-3, DuBose 3-6, Cook 0-1, Rawls 0-1, Davis 0-2); UTC 11-23 (Hall 2-4, Christopher 2-4, Black 3-5, Lambert 1-2, Payne 0-1, Towns 1-3, Downes 1-3, Jackson 1-1). Rebounds—GSU 32 (Spencer 7); UTC 40 (Dewart 7). Assists—GSU 6 (Sams 3); UTC 19 (Hall, Lambert 4). Total fouls—GSU 16, UTC 13. Fouled out—None. Technical fouls—None. A—NA.