Davidson 94, Chattanooga 51
Key Stat: Davidson 59.2% from the floor. The Mocs were dominated on the rebounding glass. They shot below 33% from the floor. They did not make a single three pointer. Davidson made nearly 60% of their shots from the floor. It was a wonderful night for Davidson. The hot shooting was a reminder that the Mocs have been really bad on offense for much of the year.
Player of the Game: DeMon Brooks. Brooks collected 27 points and had twelve rebounds. He made a statement about the Player of the Year race. He was very good in this one. He was 12 of 18 from the floor and collected five offensive rebounds.
What It All Means: For Chattanooga, this was the coming down to earth game. It was eventually going to come. That was just one loss though. The Mocs still actually lead the SoCon by one half game over Davidson. The Mocs defense has holes that they have been working to cover up. They were uncovered tonight. They ran into a buzzsaw looking to make a point tonight, but still, the Mocs had to hope for better than that. Davidson came out with the intent of making a statement, and they did just that. They are the clear favorite to win the SoCon at this point. They trail the Mocs in the standings still, but are in really good shape in the overall standings. The Wildcats played nearly flawlessly and the Mocs played a terrible game. If they meet in Asheville, it will likely be a closer game, but Davidson made a huge statement.
Elon 74, Western Carolina 60
Key Stat: Elon seven personal fouls. That's not in the first half. That's in the whole game. The Catamounts did not shoot a single free throw in the game. Elon shot 23 free throws. How in the world was Western Carolina going to win the game with those numbers? Pretty unlikely.
Player of the Game: Lucas Troutman. Troutman scored 17 points and ten rebounds. He made 6 of 10 from the floor. He also had three steals. He made just 5 of 9 free throws. But his double-double was more than enough to lead the Phoenix to the victory.
What It All Means: The Catamounts now have lost three out of four games. Trey Sumler was held to six points. He has averaged eight in the last two games. What's going on with him right now? The Catamounts are now 5-3 and have over a week off before hosting Appalachian State and Furman next weekend. Western has to get it together. Elon is 4-3 in SoCon games and stopped the bleeding a bit. They have split the season series with Western Carolina. Elon has a trip to Boone this Saturday in a game the Phoenix have to show up and win. Elon is in good position to get a bye at this point, but they can't afford a slip up.
Georgia Southern 83, The Citadel 52
Key Stat: Georgia Southern 53.4% from the floor. The Bulldogs shot 35.1% from the floor. They were dominated on the rebounding glass. They made just one three pointer. The Eagles were amazing from the floor. They even made 50% of their shots from three point range. It was an incredibly good performance for the Eagles.
Player of the Game: Jelani Hewitt. Hewitt scored 22 points on 8 of 10 shooting from the floor. He had one rebound and five assists. He made 4 of 6 from three point range. Hewitt absolutely made everything tonight, and showed again why he is one of the SoCon's top players on a night the Eagles needed him to dominate.
What It All Means: The Eagles were absolutely brilliant in this one. They dominated almost from the outset. The Eagles needed to get a win really bad. They now have three road games, beginning with UNCG on Saturday. They are only one game out of the final bye spot right now. They are in a position to contend for one, but need to play well on Saturday against the Spartans to stay there. The Bulldogs remain winless in SoCon play. They continue to be dominated in this one. They go to Davidson on Saturday. They have been getting pounded lately. The Bulldogs are really bad right now. They will probably eventually get a SoCon win, but they look far away from that right now.
UNCG 66, Appalachian State 61
Key Stat: Mountaineers 34.3% from the floor. The Mountaineers went ice cold and could not recover. They were up big in the first half, but could not make shots in the second half and could not slow down the Spartans. The Mountaineers shooting was simply not good.
Player of the Game: Jordan Potts. Potts made 8 of 13 from three point range and scored 26 points. He had one assist and two steals. Potts red hot shooting was the reason the Spartans were able to pull out the come from behind win that they desperately needed.
What It All Means: The Mountaineers had a double digit lead and looked like they were rolling to a 3-4 SoCon record and a three game winning streak. But then it fell apart. Almost as quickly as they built the lead, it was gone. The Mountaineers host Elon on Saturday in a game they absolutely have to have if they want to get back into the bye race. The Spartans won this critical game and now is one half game behind Elon for the final bye spot and one full game behind Wofford and Western Carolina. The Spartans needed to win both games at home this weekend and they are halfway there. With a game against 3-4 Georgia Southern in Greensboro on Saturday, that game will matter a great deal. They need to come up with the win and stay ahead of the Eagles in the standings.
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