Eagles Falter in Overtime Against Wofford
2/21/2010 12:13:00 AM | Men's Basketball
STATESBORO, Ga. - In Hollywood, the ending would been simple - the heroes would have rallied from being behind and would have won. Sometimes, even Hollywood pulls some surprises, and today's game between Wofford and Georgia Southern was full of them. The Eagles battled back from a double-digit deficit in the second half against the number-two team in the Southern Conference South Division, but Wofford pulled out the win in overtime, 82-76, at Hanner Fieldhouse.
Noah Dahlman was the top scorer on the night with 21 points and 10 rebounds and Tim Johnson pulled down a game-best 12 rebounds to go along with 11 points for Wofford. The Eagles' Rory Spencer (Atlanta, Ga.) scored seven of his 19 points in overtime, and tied Tyler Troupe (Gallatin, Tenn.) to lead the Eagles with seven rebounds.
Following a 66 all score at the end of regulation, Dahlman hit his 17th point of the game with a jumper to give the Terriers a 68-66 lead and begin a 9-4 run to open the final period. Spencer hit two free throws to knot the score at 68-68. Missing his first shot, Tim Johnson hit a jumper, then rebounded a Willie Powers III (Gainesville, Fla.) miss to feed Dahlman for another basket, 70-68, Wofford.
Spencer picked up his fourth foul of the game, labeled as an intentional foul, with 3:16 left in overtime as Dahlman was sent to the line for two shots with the Terriers keeping possession. Spencer added two more free throws to get the Eagles within four, 70-74, halfway through the overtime, but Brad Loesing scored three straight points for a 70-77 Wofford lead. The Eagles missed their next two shots while Loesing added two more free throws to the score, 70-79. Drayton hit a three to cut the margin to six with 55 seconds left in the overtime period, but GSU missed three straight shots before it had to begin fouling Terriers. Spencer scored a basket and "and one" with 22 seconds left, 76-81. Rundles closed the scoring for Wofford going 1-2 from the foul line.
The Terriers outrebounded the Eagles 10-4 in the extra period and hit four field goals to two for GSU. Wofford converted at the foul line, going 8-9 while Spencer accounted for seven of the Eagles' 10 points in overtime. Ben Drayton III (St. Marys, Ga.) added a three pointer.
Down 12 early in the second period, GSU rattled off a 14-4 run over three and a half minutes to pull within two of the Terriers, 43-45. The Terriers' Dahlman stole a Powers ball for a layup and then hit a jumper for a quick return to a Wofford six-point lead. Powers brought the ball back down court and hit Colby Wohlleb (Boca Raton, Fla.) for a three-pointer and then swiped a Terrier turnover for a layup of his own. Within six minutes, the double-digit Wofford lead had evaporated and the Eagles grabbed a one-point lead, their first of the game, 51-50, off Spencer steal and jumper at the 11:23 mark.
Powers' two free throws at 7:10 gave Georgia Southern a five-point lead, 57-52, but Dahlman hit a jumper and added the foul shot for a 57-55 Eagles score. Antoine Johnson (Atlanta, Ga.) had a quick field goal off a Troupe rebound for a 59-55 lead and a Drayton layup put GSU up by four at the last media timeout of the game, 61-57. In the last five minutes of the game, Wofford hit 6-6 free throws and found itself down by only one, 62-61, Eagles. Another Drayton layup put the Eagles back out in front by three before Dahlman and Hanson traded baskets, 66-63, Georgia Southern. Jamar Diggs's trey tied the game at 66 at 1:39 and Wofford signaled for a timeout to assess the situation. Neither team could score the winning basket in the final 97 seconds, despite opportunities by the both team's scoring leaders.
Wofford scored the first two points of the game and held the lead for the entire first half and for the first eight and a half minutes of the second period. The Terriers were up by as many as 11 points late in the first half, but Antonio Hanson (Ft. Worth, Texas) hit a jumper and then a three with one minute left in the half for a 26-33 score. Colby Wohlleb hit a trey with nine seconds left to cut the Wofford lead to four, 29-33, at the half. Hanson had 10 points at the break with four baskets, including two three pointers.
Georgia Southern had three other players score in double figures with Drayton with 15, Hanson with 14 and powers with 12 to go with seven assists. Spencer had three blocked shots to put him at 56 for the season, one shy of the Eagles' single-season record. Wofford's five starters scored in double figures with Terry Martin adding seven points and Rundles six off the bench.
GSU plays next at Samford, facing Jimmy Tillette's Bulldogs Monday, February 22nd, in an 8 p.m. EST matchup at the Pete Hanna Center in Birmingham, Ala. The Eagles return for their final home game on Thursday, February 25th when they will honor their six seniors prior to their last game in Hanner Fieldhouse.
