Wofford Dominates Second Half, Downs Men's Basketball 86-79
1/24/2008 5:07:00 AM | Men's Basketball
STATESBORO, Ga. --- Down nine points at halftime, Wofford stormed back and shot 72.4 percent from the field in the second half to defeat Georgia Southern 86-79 in Southern Conference men's basketball action Thursday night at Hanner Fieldhouse.
The Terriers win their second straight and move to 10-8 overall and 3-5 in the league. The Eagles drop to 12-7, 5-4.
“Obviously we didn't do what we had to do," said GSU head coach Jeff Price. “I continue to say, everybody harps how we've been playing on the road, but that means when you come home, you just show up and win games, and you have to do more than just show up in the conference. I thought that was kind of our mentality throughout the game. And I thought we played a really poor first half even though we were up by nine (and) I didn't think we played well. I thought when they made the run in the second half and came back and tied the game, that we just put our heads down and didn't fight back
Wofford ends a six-game losing streak at Hanner Fieldhouse dating back to 2001. Georgia Southern loses its first game this season at home (5-1).
“I don't think it would have mattered who we played," said Price. “I think it was the fact that we felt we were on our home floor and we've been successful here and we could just walk out of here with a win. In this conference that doesn't happen. I knew Wofford was a really dangerous team that shoots the ball really well.”
A 14-1 Georgia Southern run in the first half helped the Eagles to a 36-27 lead at the break. Wofford shot just 31.3 percent, compared to 41.2 percent for GSU.
But the start of the second half was a different story. Wofford made their first seven shots and tied the score at 45-45 with 15:29 to go in the game. The Terriers began the period by converting 13 of their first 16 from the floor.
Wofford finally retook the lead on a 3-pointer by Corey Godzinski and never looked back after a 14-4 run, eventually stretching their advantage to 13 (75-62) late in the contest.
The Terriers more than doubled their first-half output and outscored the Eagles 59-43 in the final 20 minutes.
“I thought our effort and our intensity and our passion and our leadership was not good,” said Price. “When things started going bad, I thought our body language wasn't good and I think for a senior heavy team, I was really disappointed with the way we fought back.”
GSU senior Louis Graham (West Palm Beach, Fla.) led all scorers with a career-high tying 26 points and grabbed eight rebounds. He was joined in double-figures by senior Dwayne Foreman (Apopka, Fla.) and sophomore Antoine Johnson (Atlanta, Ga.) who had 11 each.
Junior Salters paced the Terrier offense with 18 points and Noah Dahlman came off the bench to add a career-best 17. Drew Gibson added 14 and 12 assists.
The Eagles return to action Saturday when they host Furman at 7:30 p.m. Everyone who attends is encouraged to “Pack the House in Pink” to support the fight against breast cancer.
The Terriers win their second straight and move to 10-8 overall and 3-5 in the league. The Eagles drop to 12-7, 5-4.
“Obviously we didn't do what we had to do," said GSU head coach Jeff Price. “I continue to say, everybody harps how we've been playing on the road, but that means when you come home, you just show up and win games, and you have to do more than just show up in the conference. I thought that was kind of our mentality throughout the game. And I thought we played a really poor first half even though we were up by nine (and) I didn't think we played well. I thought when they made the run in the second half and came back and tied the game, that we just put our heads down and didn't fight back
Wofford ends a six-game losing streak at Hanner Fieldhouse dating back to 2001. Georgia Southern loses its first game this season at home (5-1).
“I don't think it would have mattered who we played," said Price. “I think it was the fact that we felt we were on our home floor and we've been successful here and we could just walk out of here with a win. In this conference that doesn't happen. I knew Wofford was a really dangerous team that shoots the ball really well.”
A 14-1 Georgia Southern run in the first half helped the Eagles to a 36-27 lead at the break. Wofford shot just 31.3 percent, compared to 41.2 percent for GSU.
But the start of the second half was a different story. Wofford made their first seven shots and tied the score at 45-45 with 15:29 to go in the game. The Terriers began the period by converting 13 of their first 16 from the floor.
Wofford finally retook the lead on a 3-pointer by Corey Godzinski and never looked back after a 14-4 run, eventually stretching their advantage to 13 (75-62) late in the contest.
The Terriers more than doubled their first-half output and outscored the Eagles 59-43 in the final 20 minutes.
“I thought our effort and our intensity and our passion and our leadership was not good,” said Price. “When things started going bad, I thought our body language wasn't good and I think for a senior heavy team, I was really disappointed with the way we fought back.”
GSU senior Louis Graham (West Palm Beach, Fla.) led all scorers with a career-high tying 26 points and grabbed eight rebounds. He was joined in double-figures by senior Dwayne Foreman (Apopka, Fla.) and sophomore Antoine Johnson (Atlanta, Ga.) who had 11 each.
Junior Salters paced the Terrier offense with 18 points and Noah Dahlman came off the bench to add a career-best 17. Drew Gibson added 14 and 12 assists.
The Eagles return to action Saturday when they host Furman at 7:30 p.m. Everyone who attends is encouraged to “Pack the House in Pink” to support the fight against breast cancer.
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