Rush The Court

Justin Glover is the RTC correspondent for the Southern Conference.

Quick look at the early standings with overall records…

NORTH

1. Chattanooga 2-0
2. Appalachian State 2-1
3. Western Carolina 1-1
4. Elon 1-2
5. UNC Greensboro 0-2

SOUTH

1. Furman 2-0
2. Wofford 2-1
3. Charleston 1-1
4. Citadel 1-1
5. Georgia Southern 1-2
6. Davidson 0-2

Some of the top storylines from the Southern Conference are Wofford playing tough basketball early after nearly defeating Pittsburgh on the road before losing 63-60.  The Terriers held a 10-point lead with ten minutes to play after junior preseason all-conference honoree Noah Dahlman scored 20 points and seven rebounds to almost shock Pittsburgh at home.

Davidson opened its 2009-10 campaign with a tough loss on the road against #10 Butler, 73-62.  The Wildcats were only down two points heading into the second half but the Bulldogs pulled away late.  Sophomore forward Ben Allison scored 13 points and had seven rebounds in the loss.

Wofford continued its solid play by defeating Georgia 60-57 on the road and really boosted the conference RPI with that win.  Dahlman was again in double figures with 11 points.

Another nice storyline to follow in the next couple of weeks is how good can Furman and Chattanooga could be after both starting the year at 2-0.

Two players from the Southern Conference who came through for their respective teams were Josh Bonney (Elon) and Jordan Miller (Furman).  Bonney led Elon in scoring for the week, averaging 16.7 PPG in three games last week against Lipscomb, Charlotte, and Coastal Carolina, achieving a career-high 24 points in that season opener against Lipscomb, a 91-86 victory.  Miller scored 23 points in the season opener against Lees-McRae in a 88-49 win, then followed up that performance with ten points against Presbyterian in a 68-64 victory.

Upcoming schedule/Important match-ups:

• Fri. Nov 20, Appalachian St. @ Arkansas (SoCon looks for its second win against the SEC this season)
• Fri. Nov 20, UNC-Greensboro vs. Clemson
• Sun. Nov. 22, Wofford vs. Bradley (Las Vegas Invitational)
• Sun. Nov. 22, Chattanooga @ Richmond (a tough road game for the Mocs)
• Tues. Nov. 24, Wofford @ Illinois (Las Vegas Invitational)
• Sat. Nov. 28 Western Carolina @ Gardner-Webb (a rematch of last-years battle)

Team Breakdowns:

• Appalachian State (2-1): Opened the season with a home non-conference victory over UNC-Wilmington, 79-68, Kellen Brand scoring 20 points to lead the way.  The Mountaineers traveled to East Tennessee State the next night and lost 62-58 with Donald Sims as the leading scorer with 14 points.  Appalachian State earned its second win of the season after beating Lees-McRae 77-44 on Nov. 17 with Isaac Butts posting 22 points and nine rebounds.
• Chattanooga (2-0): Started the season with a 107-62 victory over Virginia Intermont with Ricky Taylor scoring 17 points in the win.  Defeated in-state rival East Tennessee State, 85-76, receiving 23 points from Keegan Bell.  Lost close to 85% of its offense from last season but is showing a lot of toughness especially on the defensive end to win its first two games of the season.
• College of Charleston (1-1): Got off to a rocky start losing on the road against Coastal Carolina 70-59 after being picked to win the Southern Conference in the preseason.  Junior preseason all-conference honoree Andrew Goudelock didn’t disappoint with 19 points in his first game.  Bounced back with a solid non-conference win against Winthrop, 69-57, getting 18 points from Goudelock to lead all scorers.
• Davidson (0-2): After facing two worthy opponents to start the season the Wildcats are 0-2 after losing on the road against #10 Butler 73-62 after only being down by two points at halftime.  Ben Allison led all scorers with 13 points and seven rebounds.  Davidson next played South Florida in the Charleston Classic tournament in Charleston, SC, losing 65-58.  Davidson has been getting good play from Will Archambault who poured in 14 points and six rebounds in the losing effort.
• Elon (1-2): Went on the road to start the season and defeated Lipscomb 91-86 thanks to Josh Bonney scoring 24 points off the bench to spark the Phoenix.  Two days later they lost to Charlotte 75-61 and Coastal Carolina 69-46 on back-to-back nights.  Bonney, for his efforts on the week, was named SoCon player of the week by the league office.
• Furman (2-0): The Paladins have been getting great support from junior guard Jordan Miller who scored 23 points in the season opener against Lees-McRae in a 88-49 victory.  Furman won its second game against Presbyterian 68-64 thanks in part to Amu Saaka scoring 29 points and pulling eight rebounds in the victory.  Saaka, a transfer from South Florida, leads the SoCon in scoring through the first week of action.
• Georgia Southern (1-2): The Eagles opened the 2009-10 season with a 108-59 victory over Reinhardt with Rory Spencer leading the way with 16 points.  Georgia Southern then ran into South Carolina on the road losing 90-66 with Ben Drayton putting up 15 points in the loss.  Two nights later, the Eagles traveled to Florida losing 69-49 dropping two straight to SEC opponents.  Spencer scored 13 points in the loss.
• Samford (0-3): Played three quality opponents so far on the young season, losing on the road against Kent State 69-66 with Andy King scoring 14 points for the Bulldogs.  The next day, Samford lost a thriller against Wisconsin-Green Bay, 70-68, to drop to 0-2.  Playing their third game in three days, they lost to UAB, 55-52, with Trey Montgomery scoring 17 points in the defeat.  The Bulldogs have lost by a combined eight points to start the season 0-3.
• The Citadel (1-1): Opened the season with a 64-45 win against Kenyon College with Joe Wolfinger scoring 20 points and grabbing 12 rebounds to lead the way.  In the second game of the season it went down to the wire as Citadel lost 61-60 to Charleston Southern with Cameron Wells scoring 23 points in the defeat.
• UNC-Greensboro (0-2): Two road ACC opponents to start the season isn’t always the best thing but the Spartans lost on the road against Duke 96-62 with Ben Stywall scoring 19 points.  Next, the Spartans took on Virginia Tech on the road and played them tough losing 59-46 with at one point being tied at 35 all in the second half.  Kyle Randall finished with 10 points in the losing effort.
• Western Carolina (1-1): Started the regular season with a home game against Saint Catharine winning 65-41 with preseason all-conference selection Brandon Giles scoring 12 points in the victory.  The Catamounts would then travel to Texas, losing 73-41 with the 2008-09 SoCon freshman of the year Harouna Mutombo scoring 10 points and eight rebounds in the defeat.
• Wofford (2-1): After nearly shocking Pittsburgh on the road in the regular season opener, the Terriers went 2-1 on the week.  Wofford held a ten point advantage against Pittsburgh with ten minutes to play but couldn’t hold on, losing 63-60.  Four days later they traveled to Georgia and defeated them 60-57 providing a nice non-conference win for their resume.  Wofford finished the week with a 81-39 victory over Lees-McRae getting 17 points from Noah Dahlman in the win.