Strong Shooting Lifts Davidson Over Eagles
2/7/2010 2:30:00 AM | Men's Basketball
DAVIDSON, N.C. - There were 10 ties and 12 lead changes at Davidson, but with 55.1 percent shooting from the floor for the game, the Wildcats pulled out the win over Georgia Southern at Belk Arena, 84-74, Saturday night. Four Wildcat starters scored in double figures with J.P. Kuhlman scoring 17 of his game-leading 24 in the first half. Willie Powers III (Gainesville, Fla.) had 23 points, 17 coming in the second stanza. Rory Spencer (Atlanta, Ga.) had 18 points and five rebounds and Colby Wohlleb (Boca Raton, Fla.) followed up his career night at Western Carolina with his second-straight double-figure scoring game with 14.
"This is the best we have played on the road," said Eagles Head Coach Charlton "C.Y." Young. "I am so proud of our guys. We kept our head, we were disciplined and the game plan was well executed. This was a huge step forward for this team."
Davidson started the second half 0-6 but picked up five points off free throws to build its lead to 47-37 over the first four minutes. Georgia Southern was 0-5 and did not score its first points of the second half until the 14:39 mark when Ben Drayton III (St. Marys, Ga.) hit two free throws to cut the Wildcat lead back to single digits, 47-39. In the next 60 seconds the Davidson lead would run from five to 11 as Brendan McKillop and Jake Cohen hit back-to-back threes. Archambault and Cohen added baskets to build the Wildcat lead as high as 13, 58-45, before GSU's Powers began an assault.
Powers scored the next 10 Eagle points, including seven over the 71 seconds, to pull the Eagles within seven, 55-62, and as close as six, 62-68 off a Spencer jumper. Davidson hit 70 points off two Steve Rossiter free throws and pulled back up by 10 off a Kuhlman jumper, 72-62. The Wildcats picked up five points off free throws and getting a layup from Kuhlman to counter Antoine Johnson's fast break layup to go back up by 12. Powers hit a three with 55 seconds and Wohlleb hit a three with 39 seconds left to finish the scoring for the Eagles.
"I realize we have had our struggles, but I am very encouraged," Young said. "We'll pick up a couple wins on the road before the end of the season and be a hot team going into the tournament. This is a very difficult place to play, but I thought we stepped up to the challenge tonight. Once we learn to finish, we'll get these wins on the road."
Davidson did not relinquish the lead in the first five minutes of the game, starting with a Cohen three and then holding the Eagles to a 7-7 tie at 15:09. Wohlleb hit a three to give GSU a 10-7 advantage, then Spencer had a dunk to offset a Kuhlman jumper as Georgia Southern held a 12-9 lead. The two teams traded one-point leads and had four ties over the next four minutes until McKillop caught a pass from Ben Allison to put Davidson up 21-18 at 9:16. Tyler Troupe (Gallatin, Tenn.) tied it up again a 21-21 with a three pointer then Powers hit a jumper in the paint to give the Eagles a brief 23-21 lead.
A Drayton Iayup and back-to-back treys by Wohlleb, interrupted by a Davidson dunk by Archambault and layup by McKillop had Georgia Southern up by its largest lead, five, 33-28,with 3:56 left before the half. Two layups and a free throw by Kuhlman tied the game at 33-33 all with 2:37 left in the first half. Powers nailed a jumper in the lane to keep Georgia Southern up three, but Davidson used a 9-4 run which included three free throws for Kuhlman to take a 42-37 lead into the locker room.
Davidson outrebounded the Eagles 38-27 with Rossiter pulling down a game-high nine rebounds. Georgia Southern finished with 31 fouls to Davidson's 23, though the Eagles had a 16-8 margin at the half. The Eagles hit 22-26 free throws for the game while Davidson converted 25-35.
Georgia Southern falls to 6-19 and 3-9 in the Southern Conference while Davidson goes to 12-11 and 7-4 in the league. The Eagles travel back to North Carolina to play at Appalachian State on Saturday, February 13 at 3 p.m.
