Men’s Basketball Wins a Donnybrook Over Wofford, 60-44
3/8/2013 7:30:36 PM | Men's Basketball
VIDEO: Press Conference with Head Coach C.Y. Young, C.J. Reed and Eric Ferguson
BOX SCORE (PDF)
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – It may not have been the prettiest game in the history of basketball, but Georgia Southern opened the 2013 SoCon Men’s Basketball Tournament with a 60-44 win over Wofford on Friday at the U.S. Cellular Center. Eric Ferguson led the way with 17 points as the Eagles advance to face Davidson on Saturday at Noon.
Fans wanting to make the trip for Saturday’s game can purchase tickets on Friday evening at GSEagles.com and sit with the Georgia Southern contingent.
Eric Ferguson paced the Eagles with a game-high 17 points and five rebounds, while Tre Bussey chipped in 12 points tying for game-high honors with nine boards. Indiana Faithfull and Spencer Collins each had 10 points to lead the Terriers.
The Eagles used a strong defensive push to take control of the game. They held Wofford without a field goal for more than nine minutes to turn a two-point deficit into a 14-point advantage, 32-18. Ferguson capped the 16-0 run with a jumper with 19:24 to play.
The scoreless stretch was snapped at 18:24 by two Lee Skinner free throws. Aerris Smith broke the shooting slump with a layup 27 seconds later. Wofford looked to have taken over momentum as just more than a minute later Karl Cochran made it an eight-point affair, 32-24.
But eight was as close as it would get. Leading 34-26, GSU broke open the game scoring 15 of the next 21 points to take its largest margin of 17, 49-32 on two Cameron Baskerville free throws with 9:09 to go. The game would not get closer than 12 the rest of the way.
The Eagles dominated the glass 40-28. The plus-12 margin is the second best this season behind plus-21 at UNCG two games ago.
It was a defensive struggle. GSU shot just 37.5 percent from the field, but it muzzled the Terriers defensively. Wofford managed to shoot just 34 percent (18-53) including 15 percent, three-for-20, from three-point range.
The Eagles will face top-seeded Davidson in their second game of the 2013 SoCon Tournament on Saturday at Noon. The game can be seen on ESPN3 by going to WatchESPN.com. The Eagles are the only SoCon team to defeat Davidson this year, topping the Wildcats on January 14th inside Hanner Fieldhouse.
Fans can follow their Eagles at GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com or receive short updates at facebook.com/GSAthletics, twitter.com/GSAthletics or on Google+ at gplus.to/GSAthletics.
