Tyler Berg drained two free throws with 3.8 seconds remaining to help Wofford seal its 77-73 victory Wednesday in the first round of the 2003 Mountain Dew Southern Conference Basketball Championships.
The Terriers (14-14), the third-seed from the SoCon South Division, advance to the quarterfinals to play East Tennessee State, the North’s No. 2 seed, Thursday at about 2:30 p.m. It is Wofford’s first trip to the quarterfinals in three years. The Spartans, the sixth seed from the North, finish end their season at 7-22.
Consecutive turnovers with under 20 seconds to play resulted in a foul on the Spartans and sent Wofford’s Lee Nixon to the free throw line with 13 seconds remaining. With Wofford leading 75-73, Nixon missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity. UNCG’s James Maye rebounded the ball, and Ray Bristow’s short jumper with five seconds left was off the mark.
Berg grabbed the rebound for the Terriers and was fouled by Maye, sending him to the line for his two free throws.
UNCG, which never led in the game, tied the score at 64 on a Jay Joseph layup with 7:19 remaining. An 11-4 Wofford run enabled the Terriers to regain the lead and own a 75-68 margin with 3:37 to play. The Spartans held Wofford without a field goal from that point, but could only get as close as 75-73.
Daniels finished with a team-high 16 points and made 4-of-6 three-pointers. Mike Lenzly registered 12 points, Adrien Borders had 11 and Nixon had 10.
Maye led all scorers with 21 points and pulled down a team-best nine rebounds. It was his 23rd double-digit scoring game of the season. Joseph ended with 15 points, Gross scored 13 and Bristow chipped in 10.
Georgia Southern 89
Western Carolina 81
Julius Jenkins scored a team-high 20 points to lead the Eagles to the victory.
Georgia Southern (16-12), the fifth-seed from the SoCon South Division, advance to the quarterfinals to play the College of Charleston, the South’s No. 1 seed, today at noon. The Catamounts, the fourth seed from the North, finish the season at 9-19.
VMI 62
Furman 56
Ben Rand and Radee Skipworth combined to score 43 of VMI’s 62 points to lead the Keydets to the win over Furman. It was the Keydets’ first SoCon Tournament victory in five years.
The Keydets (9-19), the fifth-seed from the SoCon North Division, advance to the quarterfinals to play defending champion Davidson, the North’s No. 1 seed, today at 6 p.m. The Paladins, the fourth seed from the South, finish the season at 14-17. They entered the tournament on a five-game winning streak.
Jenkins, who scored 13 points in the first half, was held to seven in the second half. All seven of his second-half points came with less than 2:25 remaining in the game.
An L.T. Lockett three-pointer with 53 seconds left enabled the Catamounts to slice GSU’s lead to 82-75. The Eagles made five of six free throws from that point to hold off the Cats for the win.
WCU’s only lead of the game came early on as Emre Atsur’s three-pointer at 17:33 of the first period gave the Cats a 3-2 edge. The Eagles scored 12 of the next 14 points to take the lead for good, pushing the margin to 14-5 at 12:44. GSU’s largest lead of the half was 32-18 on a Jenkins’ triple 3:14 before the break.
The Eagles enjoyed their largest lead of the game when Prentice Mobley’s three-point play increased the advantage to 18 points, 66-48 with 6:02 to play.
GSU held the Cats to 27.6 percent field goal shooting in the first half and limited the SoCon’s leading scorer, Kevin Martin, to just six first-half points. Martin, who entered the tournament averaging 22.6 points per game, scored 19 in the second half and finished with a game-high 27 points.
Jenkins, who also dished out a game-high seven assists, moved into second place on GSU’s career scoring list. He enters the quarterfinals with 1,850 all-time points, 11 behind school career leader Jeff Sanders, who scored 1,861 points from 1985-89.
Kordel Gibson added 15 points and eight rebounds for the Eagles. Frank Bennett had 14 points, Mobley scored 13 and Terry Williams chipped in 11. Atsur was the only other Catamount to score in double digits with 16.

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