The SoCon split its games between two nights, and the action on the floor on both nights was as good as it has been at any point this season, with The Citadel having been involved in a pair of overtime games, going 1-1 in those games and snapping a 37-game NCAA Division I losing streak in the process.
The Bulldogs were involved in another thriller once again just last night against UNC Greensboro, with the Spartans able to hold off the Bulldogs, 69-66, in overtime, utilizing the 11th double-double from Justin Neely (23 pts, 16 rebs) this season to post the overtime win.
The Spartans trailed by as many as 14 in the opening half before coming back to get the win, with the Bulldogs hitting seven first-half threes to take a 33-19 lead into the halftime locker room. The Spartans slowly took advantage of the tired Bulldogs down the stretch, converting some careless turnovers into points to eventually force the overtime session. The Spartans did hold a substantial 40-22 edge in the points in the paint stat.
It was another valiant effort from The Citadel, which got a game-high 25 points from Valdosta State transfer Braxton Williams in the defeat. Williams was hobbled late in the game but re-entered in overtime to try and give his team a lift but couldn't quite help the Bulldogs get over the hump in overtime.
While the Spartans held off The Citadel at Bodford Arena, the early game saw Mercer tangle with VMI in Lexington, as the Bears looked to pick up their third-straight conference win after an 0-2 start to league play.
The Bears would eventually do exactly that, getting an astounding SoCon season-high 25 rebounds to go along with 18 points from big man Armani Mighty, as the Bears escaped a rowdy Cameron Hall with a 77-67 win over the Keydets. Mighty's 25 boards marked his ninth double-double of the season, and the total marked the second-most in the history of Mercer basketball. Only Lamar Clements' 28 boards back in 1950 against Florida State accounted for more in a 40-minute contest.
One of the things that made it hard for the Bears to overcome the Keydets on the road was 14 triples made by the Keydets, including getting four apiece from Linus Holmstrom and Cal Liston, who both finished in double figures, with 18 and 12 points, respectively. The Keydets shot a more than respectable 38.9% (14-of-36) from three-point range in the game.
Mercer's interior dominance could be personified in two different stats, which was highlighted by the fact that they outscored the Keydets 50-18 in the paint and 23-5 in second-chance points. The Bears were actually led in the win by Brady Shoulders, who finished off Mercer's winning performance by posting 20 points on a 9-for-17 shooting perormance.
On Wednesday night, there were upsets, with two of the top three teams in the league going down in defeat, with Western Carolina knocking off league-leading East Tennessee State, 72-68, in Cullowhee, while Wofford went down at home to Chattanooga, with the Mocs picking up the huge 76-67 road win over the Terriers. It was the seventh-straight win in the series for the Mocs, and Chattanooga overcame as much as a 10-point deficit in the second half to come away with the win.
Chattanooga hit the Terriers with a late barrage of threes, connecting on their final three shots from long-range of the evening and finished the night 10-of-24 from long range, which converts to an impressive 41.7% from long range shooting clip. Jordan Frison once again led the Mocs with 19 points, while talented freshman guard Tate Darner chipped in with 16, and Billy Smith added 13 off the bench.
Wofford lost Luke Flynn in the second half due to injury, and seemed a bit deflated down the stretch as a result. The Terriers also struggled shooting the ball for a large majority of the evening, connecting on just 35.0% (21-of-60) from the field, including just 32.1% (9-of-28) from three-point range, and for the first time looked human shooting the ball from long-distance.
Still, the 66 three-pointers hit through the first five SoCon games are an impressive feat. The Terriers got a game-high 22 points from Kahmare Holmes, who recorded his eighth 20-point game of the season, which is tied for second and just one behind Samford's Jadin Booth. Holmes also added seven rebounds, two steals and an assist in the win. Cayden Vasko chipped in with 15 points for the Terriers and Nils Machowski added 14 in defeat.
Western Carolina has a knack for knocking off top SoCon teams at the Ramsey Center, as the Catamounts did it in both the 2021-22 season when it did so against eventual league champion Chattanooga in then on New Year's Eve of the ensuing season, the Catamounts took down eventual league champion Furman in the Ramsey Center. So in a sense, the 72-68 loss by East Tennessee State early on in conference play might be looked at as something of a good omen if that trend continues, as Chattanooga and Furman ended up in the Big Dance at the end of those respective seasons.
Not only that, WCU's two wins this season in league play have come against the two teams tied for first, so I suppose you could say the Cats gave the Bucs the early lead in the standings by getting an 80-77 win at Furman two weeks ago, and equalized them a week-and-a-half later with a four-point win over the Bucs.
With that said, the Catamounts' four-point triumph marked the fifth-straight when by the Catamounts over the Bucs in the Ramsey Center, and the game was close throughout. The lead never exceeded seven points for either team over the course of the 40-minute contest.
Marcus Kell proved pivotal in the win for the Catamounts, and that comes as little surprise, as he came up so big down the stretch in WCU's road win at Furman. It was Kell's second-chance layup with 12 seconds remaining that put the Catamounts in the familiar position of upsetting a league title contender. Samuel Dada's free throws with 0.8 remaining helped make it academic.
It is important to note that the Bucs were without Jordan McCullum, who's been a presence on both defense in the interior as well as rebounding for the Bucs this season. The Catamounts shot an impressive 48.2% (27-of-56) against a Top 40 ranked defensive team nationally and were a solid 34.6% (9-of-26) from long-range.
Meanwhile, the Catamounts were also good defensively, limiting ETSU to just 38.6% (22-of-57) from the field and just 30.4% (7-of-23) from long-range. Both teams shot over 70% from the line, with the Bucs connecting at a 73.9% (17-of-23) clip and the Catamounts at a 75.0% (9-of-12) clip.
It was Cord Stansberry that would actually lead WCU in scoring with 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field, which included an impressive 5-of-10 effort from three-point range. Kell chipped in with 15 points and five rebounds, while Samuel Dada once again came up huge off the bench, as the "Super Eagle" from Nigeria added 13 points and 10 boards.
For Dada, it probably at least help soothe some of the pain suffered, as his home country Super Eagles of Nigeria bowed out of the AFCON (African Cup of Nations) with a penalty kicks loss to Morrocco earlier in the afternoon.
ETSU was led by another outstanding performance from Brian Taylor II, who posted a game-high 23 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field and 4-for-7 from three-point range in the defeat for the Bucs. He also added six boards and two assists to the cause. Cam Morris III added 19 points, while Blake Barkley continued to impress with a double-double, adding 15 points and 10 rebounds to finish off his second double-double of the season.
One of the key takeaways from this game was WCU's overall presence in the paint, outscoring ETSU 32-30 underneath, while winning the battle of the boards (39-30), which included 12 offensive rebounds that led to a 10-5 edge in second-chance scoring. In games of narrow margins like SoCon games so often are, this was one of the differences for WCU in the win.
Team of the Week: Furman
Furman's 69-48 win over VMI last Saturday came at a price, as two more players--Tom House and Asa Thomas--both went down with injuries to join Cooper Bowser, Davis Molnar and Collin O'Neal, who have already been subtracted from the rotation. The Paladins headed to Birmingham for a midweek test with only eight scholarship players along for the ride, and that would prove to be all the Paladins really needed, as they came away with a huge 77-73 road win over the Bulldogs, despite having the odds severely stacked against them.
Alex Wilkins finished with a career-high 28 points, connecting on 11-of-20 shots from the field, including 2-for-8 from three-point range and contributed five assists, one steal and a rebound in the win. The freshman from Mattapan, MA., also finished the contest connecting on 4-of-7 from the charity stripe. The 28-point performance marked Wilkins' eighth 20-point performance of the season, which is tied with Wofford's Kahmare Holmes for second-most 20-point performances this season.
While Wilkins was the lone Paladins in double figures in the win, all seven other available players scored in the game, including a near double-double from Charles Johnston, who finished with nine points and a team-high 14 rebounds, while dishing out a pair of assists and record a pair of steals, with only one turnover in 30 minutes of work before fouling out of the game late in the second half. It was Johnston's 11th double-digit rebound performance in 18 games this season.
Ben Vander Wal, Eddrin Bronson, Cole Bowser and Abijah Franklin all chipped in with eight points, while Mason Smith finished with six points and was the Paladins' second player to reach a double-digit rebounds total, ripping down a career-high 11 boards.
Owen Ritger's lone points were two of the most important of the night, as his points came early in the second half, using a turn-around jumper, fade-a-way jumper as the shot-clock expired extended Furman's lead to eight (50-42) at the 15:35 mark of the second half.
Samford's scoring efforts were led by a double-double performance from Dylan Faulkner, as he posted 19 points and 11 rebounds, which marked his third double-double of the season, including his second in Southern Conference play.
Faulkner was one of four Bulldogs in double figures in the game. The Lipscomb transfer finished the night connecting on 7-of-12 shots from the field, including going 5-for-9 from the charity stripe. He also finished with a steal and an assist.
Faulkner was joined in double figures by Will Shaver, who added a career-best 15 points and four rebounds off the bench for the Bulldogs, while SoCon leading scorer--Florida Southern transfer Jadin Booth--settled for eight points below his scoring average of 20.4 PPG coming into the contest, finishing with 12 points on a 4-of-11 shooting performance, including 2-for-5 from long range.
The 41% three-point shooter, who led the nation in threes per game, averaging just over four made per game and 61 makes for the season coming in was held to half that total by the Paladins. The 12 points against the Paladins was Booth's lowest scoring effort in five league games thus far, which has included 26-point and 33-point performances against UNCG and Western Carolina, respectively, so far in league play.
True freshman guard Isaiah Campbell-Finch rounded out the double-figure scorers for Samford, as he finished with 10 points on a 3-for-7 shooting effort.
The Paladins connected on 43.3% (29-of-67) and connected on 25.8% (8-of-31) from three-point range, while adding a 68.8% (11-of-16) effort from the charity stripe.
Samford finished the evening connecting on 43.9% (25-of-57) from the field, including just a 25.0% (5-of-20) effort from three-point range. The Bulldogs were a solid 78.3% (18-of-23) from the free throw line.
Furman finished the night claiming statistical advantages in total rebounds (43-32), which included 15 key offensive rebounds that led to an 11-8 advantage in second-chance points. Samford led most of the key statistical categories, however, only slightly. The Bulldogs held advantages in the following categories: total assists (13-12), points in the paint (38-30), points from turnovers (16-9), fast-break points (21-16), and bench scoring (21-16).
The lead changed hands a total of 11 times, with five ties over the course of the contest. Furman, which turned the ball over 20 times in Saturday's home win, trimming that by 10 in the road win over the Bulldogs.
One of the more interesting stats of note, over the past three games, Furman has outscored its foes 60-12 in the last five minutes of the first half and first five of the second half, which is sometimes referred to as the "middle 10" or more commonly, "middle eight" by coaches, players and media personnel. It simply refers to the end of the first half and the opening portion of the second half, spanning the first 4-5 minutes of each.
Saturday's Slate (Jan. 17, 2026)
Chattanooga (8-10, 2-3 SoCon) at Western Carolina (6-10, 2-3 SoCon)/ESPN+
ETSU (12-6, 4-1 SoCon) at Samford (9-9, 2-3 SoCon), 2 p.m. EST/CBS Sports Network
Mercer (11-7, 3-2 SoCon) at UNCG (7-11, 3-2 SoCon), 4 p.m. EST First Horizon Coliseum/ESPN+
Wofford (11-7, 3-2 SoCon) at Furman (13-5, 4-1 SoCon), 5 p.m. EST/Nexstar SoCon Game of the Week on local CW affiliates and ESPN+
The Citadel (4-14, 1-4 SoCon) at VMI (6-12, -14 SoCon), 7 p.m. EST/ESPN+
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