CULLOWHEE, N.C. — Western Carolina trailed much of the first half, but came back in the second with the help of 17 points and five rebounds from Arnold Gore for a 69-57 Southern Conference win Saturday over Georgia Southern.
Nick Aldridge added 15 points, including 11 in the second half, and Antonio Russell had 15 points, including two 3-pointers and five free throws. James Robinson also was in double figures for the Catamounts (10-14, 7-6).
The victory broke a seven-game losing streak for the Catamounts against the Eagles and its first home court win over Georgia Southern (10-14, 3-10) since 2001.
Donte Gennie scored 24 points, including three 3-pointers, for the Eagles. Jimmy Tobias had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Claxton tops BCHS
The Claxton Tigers ended their regular season with a 40-37 win on Friday.
Damian Brewton led CHS (2-8, 6-17) with 22 points and Chris Bellamy added 10. The Tigers will begin region 3-A tournament action this week.
GHSA State Swimming & Diving Championships
The Statesboro High girls’ 200 medley relay team made up of Julie Stalcup (backstroke), Melanie Schmid (breaststroke), Leanne Dannacher (butterfly), Erin Irby (freestyle) and alternate Viki Gleissner (butterfly and free) participated in the 2007 GHSA State Swimming and Diving Championships on Friday at Westminster Schools in Atlanta.
The team came away with a time of 2:07.24 and a 32nd place finish out of 45 qualifying teams. They went into the meet with a 36th place ranking based on the qualifying time they swam at a home meet on Friday, Jan. 26th at Splash in the Boro.
Metter ends season with win
The Metter Tigers got 20 points from Terrence Collins and ended their regular season with a 52-41 win over Bryan County in non-region action Saturday.
Metter will begin region 3-AA tournament play Wednesday against Josey at Josey at 8:30 p.m.
Eagles Fall 6-1 at Central Florida
The Georgia Southern men’s tennis team dropped their third match of the season Friday afternoon 6-1 to the Central Florida Golden Knights.
Joris De Weerdt captured the Eagles only win of the day, taking his No. 2 singles match 3-6, 6-4 (10-3) from Tarek Ben Soltane.
In No. 1 singles, Emmanuel Nkoueleue fell 6-2, 6-2 to Sinan Sudas. Matthew Sands dropped his No. 3 match to Brock Sakey 6-1, 6-1. In the No. 4 slot, Greg Bekkers lost 6-2, 6-0 to Johan Beigart. Borja Malet was unable to clinch a win at No. 5, falling 6-2, 0-6, 6-2 to Norman Alcantara. Rounding out the singles action, No. 6 Neil Shine lost 6-2, 6-0 to Jimmy Roesch.
The Eagles lost all three doubles matches.
Southern wraps up the road trip Saturday as they travel to North Florida. Match time is set for 11 a.m.
SEB Drill team results
The Southeast Bulloch drill team competed at Liberty County on Saturday.
The Yellow Jackets finished in first place in the Male Mixed Armed Platoon and the Male Mixed Unarmed Platoon, second place in the Male Mixed Unarmed Squad, the Male Mixed Color Guard and the Female Armed Squad and third place in the Female Unarmed Squad.
In the Unarmed Knockout competition, Wachovia Benjamin took home second place and Shelia Cootle finished in third.
Southeast will host its next Drill match Saturday at 10 a.m.
Gator JV teams in region title games
The Bulloch Academy junior varsity boys’ basketball squad won the 2007 GISA Region 2-AA championship Saturday.
Eighth graders Win Lee and Walker Blitch netted 11 points each as Bulloch downed Trinity Christian School 33-18. Blitch had three three-point baskets for the Gators, who end the season 10-3 overall and a perfect 8-0 in region play. Holden Shriver scored eight points for the Crusaders.
In the girls’ championship game, Trinity Christian School proved too much for the Lady Gators as they defeated BA 39-16. Amanda Beacham led the Lady Crusaders with 20 points as they claimed the 2007 title. For Bulloch, which finishes the season at 10-3 overall and 6-2 in region play, was led by Rachel Gilbert with six.
BA hosts varsity tourneys
Bulloch Academy will be the host site for both the Georgia Independent School Association (GISA) Region 2-AA varsity basketball tournaments.
The tournament, which will be played on Feb. 13, 15 and 17, includes the boys’ and girls’ teams from Bulloch Academy, Edmund Burke Academy of Waynesboro, Trinity Christian School of Dublin, Frederica Academy of St. Simons Island and Memorial Day School from Savannah.
Games start at 6 p.m. on Tuesday and 4 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Admission is $6 daily. Bulloch Academy athletic passes are not valid for this GISA-sanctioned event. Only GISA Coaches and Media passes will be honored.
Lady Eagles fall at Davidson
DAVIDSON, N.C. — The Georgia Southern women’s basketball team trailed by just seven points at the half, but Davidson’s all-around strong shooting produced a 75-52 victory over the Lady Eagles, Saturday afternoon at Belk Arena.
Georgia Southern falls to 9-16 overall and 4-10 in Southern Conference play, dropping its second consecutive match.
Junior guard Katie Hamilton led all scorers with 18 points, shooting 5 of 19 from the field and a perfect 6 of 6 from the free-throw line.
Georgia Southern was paced by freshman guard Carolyn Whitney with 14 points. North Carolina native Tiffany Brown followed with 10 points and pulled down five rebounds.
The Lady Eagles look to bounce back as they continue their three-game road, facing Western Carolina, Monday at 5 p.m.
Eagle Track and Field results
Georgia Southern’s track and field team returns home with two titles, numerous season high marks and three career bests after a competitive weekend at the Carolina Classic.
Freshman Demetrise Anthony had an outstanding weekend, claiming the title in the Triple Jump with a season-high distance of 38’09.75”. Her mark puts her fourth on GSU’s all-time list. Seniors Brittany Chase and Lauren Jacobs finished third and fourth (38’01.25” and 37’10.75”, respectively) in the event.
Chase also had a note-worthy performance in the 60m Hurdles, finishing third overall with a time of 8.75.
Senior Nicole Brown had two individual top three finishes for the day with her best performance coming in the Long Jump. Brown’s distance of 19’02.75” put her at second place and is 1’02” better than her previous season high (38’07.5”).
In the 60m, Brown obtained her best finish of the season (third) clocking in at 7.63. Anthony took fifth in the event while achieving a personal-best and taking over fourth place on GSU’s indoor honor roll with her finish of 7.69.
Senior Emily Greeson’s 53’02.75” mark in the Weight Throw gave her a second place finish and a new career-high. In addition to that event, Greeson set a second personal-best in the Shot Put (43’02.25”).
The Eagle women picked up the second title of the day with their 4x400m Relay performance. Junior Amber Wilson, Brown, Watts, and senior Rashedah Arnold once again proved dominance in the event clocking in at 3:58.49.
Adding to the relay title, Arnold also obtained a runner-up finish in the 400m (57.80) and took third with a time of 25.70 in the 200m.
Eagle golf in 3rd at Gator Invitational
Junior Manuel Villegas posted a career-low 36-hole score of 135 (-5) at the SunTrust Gator Invitational on Saturday, placing himself atop the leader board and guiding the top-ranked Florida men’s golf team to a second-place standing after two rounds at University Golf Course. The Gators recorded a score of 569 (+9) on the day, leaving them just one stroke behind tournament-leader Wake Forest and one stroke ahead of third place Georgia Southern with 18 holes still to be contested.
Final-round competition will begin at 8 a.m. today, with tee times scheduled at nine-minute intervals. Live scoring can be found at www.golfstat.com.
