Day Two Review

It was another exciting day of basketball in Asheville. A surprise or two along the way. Let's get into the action.

UNC-Greensboro (1N) 65, Appalachian State (5N) 55

Appalachian State played so well for the first half and into the second half, leading 49-38 in the second half. Omar Carter, Andre Williamson, and Isaac Butts combined for 32 points and 24 rebounds, which was solid, but they got no supporting effort. Tab Hamilton and Mike Neal that combined for 38 points on Friday scored just 8 on Saturday. They showed in the first half why they were one of the most talented teams in the league. They showed in the second half why they have been one of the most inconsistent teams in the league.

The Spartans, on the other hand, showed the sort of resilience that it takes to win a SoCon Tournament Title. Trevis Simpson scored 17 points and had 9 rebounds. They outrebounded the Mountaineers and committed fewer turnovers. Once the Spartans got rolling, there was no stopping them. It was like an avalanche went off. The Spartans proved a lot of people wrong today. They proved that  they belong in the discussion of teams to contend for the SoCon Championship. They are in the heart of that battle now that they reached the semifinals. They also stepped up the defensive intensity, which is what it is going to take to win the SoCon.

Western Carolina (3N) 82, Wofford (2S) 59

The Terriers had Kevin Giltner and Karl Cochran shoot 3 of 25 from the field for 12% shooting. Not good. Those two also shot 1 for 16 from three point range. That just about destroyed the Terriers chances of winning. The key for the Terriers was to make long range shots, and they completely failed at that in this game, so Wofford was not successful in this game.

On the other hand, Western Carolina showed that they might win the SoCon Tournament after all. They outrebounded Wofford, which was totally unexpected. They shot nearly 56% from the floor. Tawski King had 14 points and ten rebounds. Harouna Mutombo scored 17, showing that he is not ready for his career to be over. If the Catamounts shoot that well, and rebound that well, they are going to be a tough out for any team in this tournament. This was a dominating performance against the back-to-back SoCon Tournament Champs. What a performance.

Davidson (1S) 73, Furman (5S) 54

Furman did a decent job of rebounding, which was good for the Paladins. Unfortunately for them, they could not make shots, and Davidson shot about 47% from the floor against them. They continue to show that they do not have a true offensive weapon. That's the reason that they continued to struggle all year against some of the league's better teams.

The Wildcats had De'Mon Brooks and Chris Czerapowicz score 17 points, while Tyler Kalinoski also scored 17 points off the bench. The Wildcats shot the ball well and did not turn the ball over. They played an effective game. They looked like the team we expected to see in this tournament and a team that is very capable of going all the way. They won with Jake Cohen scoring just six points. If the Wildcats can do that, who is going to beat them in this tournament?

Elon (2N) 65, Georgia Southern (3S) 58

The Eagles had Eric Ferguson pour in 21 points. But they could not bring the energy to complete the comeback for the second straight night. They did well against the more athletic Mocs, but struggled against the more physical Phoenix. The Eagles are a very good team, but need to continue to improve with the players they have and the ones they have coming in. They can get better, and they slowly are. They are a team to be reckoned with in the years to come.

Elon showed all the things that made them great early in the year. They shot the ball exceptionally well. Jack Isenbarger also scored 18 points. Lucas Troutman also collected six rebounds. Drew Spradlin scored just eight points. This is a good Phoenix team when they play solid, physical basketball. They got hammered by 21 points at Davidson in the second to last regular season game. They had lost four straight games heading into that one.  Now they've won two straight. Can they turn it around now?