Head Coach Jay Mcauley and the Wofford Terriers came into Friday’s game 5-4 on the season after beating the Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs in a close Big South/SoCon match-up last Saturday, 81-77. While the North Greenville Crusaders were 4-5 after losing on the road to Head Coach Bob Richey and the Furman Paladins in a regional non-divisional match-up in Greenville, SC, 90-65.
First Half
Wofford would start the night running as they caught an early lead in the first half. North Greenville had trouble with turnovers as the Terriers forced 14 by the end of the half. Fouls would pose a problem for the Crusaders as the Terriers were able to get into the bonus fairly quickly in the half.
The Terriers were able to push their lead thanks to a barrage of three pointers and a high three point percentage. The Terriers were lights out from behind the arc hitting 11-16, with threes coming from both Redshirt Freshman Isaiah Bigelow and Senior Donovan Theme-Love. The bench also contributed 29 points. Everything was clicking for the Terriers as they were succeeding on both sides of the court. Allowing only nine buckets from the Crusaders for the entire half. Though they made up for this by hitting 11-12 from the charity stripe. At the end the score was 31-64 in favor of Coach MaCauley and the Wofford Terriers.
Second Half
The next half saw an improved Chad Lister, North Greenville Crusader performance as they crashed the glass and prevented turnovers. But efforts to catch up were too late as the Terriers only allowed 10 buckets during the second half. This regional non-conference game would end at 66-112 with Wofford taking home the win.
A key factor in this match-up would be the amazing showing from the Terrier’s bench, as they were able to contribute 62 points in total. Another key factor would be the superior ball movement of Wofford, they had 27 assists to the Crusaders 9. The Wofford Terriers would continue their winning streak and improve their record to (6-4) as they go on the road to face the #17 UNC Tarheels at the Carmichael Arena this Sunday at 4:00pm. North Greenville’s record drops to (4-6) as they will take a break to prepare for a road match-up with Emmanuel College on 1/2 at 7:30pm.
North Greenville’s top performer would be Freshman Mason Zick would end the night with 16 points contributing 7-8 from the foul line. But Wofford’s efforts would go unmatched as the Freshman Messiah Jones had an excellent defensive showing with 4 steals and tacking on 2 blocks. He would end the night with 17 points. While Redshirt Freshman Bigelow got a career high 28 points, shooting 9-11 from the field and hitting 7-8 from deep making him the CSN Player of the Game.