Wofford senior Noah Dahlman is as automatic as they come.
He couldn’t have been more automatic than he was Wednesday in Hanner Fieldhouse, where he went 10 for 10 from the floor on his way to 26 points as the Terriers left with a 74-65 win.
Dahlman, who added six rebounds to his stat line, only missed from the foul line, where he shot 6 of 8.
The Eagles trailed just 30-26 at the break after two first-half lead changes, but Dahlman and Wofford chipped away in the second to extend the advantage.
"We ran into a group of guys that were very experienced," said GSU coach Charlton Young. "They just out-played us when the game was in question. When it was a one-possession or two-possession game, they made better decisions than we did, and that’s experience."
Wofford (7-10, 4-1 Southern Conference) scored 38 points in the paint.
The Eagles (4-14, 0-5) looked to be dead in the water when a Cameron Rundles free throw with 1:35 remaining put WC ahead 64-50, but GSU made things interesting.
Jelani Hewitt sparked a run with a long jumper. Eric Ferguson, who missed the previous game against Appalachian State with a foot injury, stole the Wofford inbound. He missed the layup, Hewitt missed the second chance after the offensive rebound but then Rory Spencer finally tapped it in on the third chance.
On the next inbound, Spencer got a steal. The ball was knocked loose, but Tre Bussey picked it up and kicked it out to Zuri James (14 points) for his second 3-pointer of the day to cut it to 64-57.
Later, down 68-57, James drilled another 3. He was fouled and converted the four-point play to leave GSU trailing 68-61.
Wofford’s Terry Martin hit a pair of free throws to make it 70-61 with 24 seconds left, leaving the Eagles with a chance to cut it to a two-possession game, but Hewitt couldn’t get his shot to fall and Dahlman got the rebound to ensure the win.
Ben Drayton once again led the Eagles with 15 points. James added 14 and Spencer, Bussey and Hewitt each added 10.
Dahlmin and Martin combined to go 15 of 16 from the floor, and Martin added 15 points for Wofford. Point guard Kevin Giltner added 11.
Georgia Southern returns to Hanner Saturday at 2 p.m. when it hosts the Furman Paladins.
Matt Yogus can be reached at (912) 489-9408.