Catamounts clip Elon in SoCon tournament

Arkansas-SEMO Live Blog

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Brandon Boggs scored 18 points as fifth-seeded Western Carolina survived a desperation 3-point attempt and eliminated No. 4 seed Elon 66-64 in a quarterfinal matchup in the Southern Conference men's basketball tournament Saturday.

Western Carolina (18-14) will face top-seeded Davidson (20-11) in the semifinals today.

Elon (18-14) led 61-60, but WCU scored the next six points to lead 66-61 with 20 seconds left. Austin Hamilton made 1 of 2 free throws for Elon, and then after a Boggs turnover Ryley Beaumont's layup cut the deficit to two with 10 seconds.

Western had trouble with the inbounds play, and Rhett Harrelson stepped on the sideline, turning the ball over. Jack Isenbarger's 3-pointer with four seconds left missed the mark, and James Sinclair gathered the rebound to seal the win.

Tawaski King had 17 points and 10 rebounds for Western Carolina. Beaumont led Elon with 16 points and eight rebounds.

* Davidson 77, Samford 54

De'Mon Brooks scored 26 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as top-seeded Davidson cruised by No. 8 seed Samford.

Jack Gibbs added 14 points and Jordan Barham tallied 10 for Davidson (20-11) as the Wildcats extended their win streak to 13 games.

Davidson never trailed against Samford (13-20) and jumped to a 28-8 lead, led by 12 points from Brooks during the opening spurt. The Bulldogs were unable to recover and trailed by double digits the rest of the way.

Brooks scored 17 in the first half as Davidson held a 42-26 lead.

Both teams shot above 40 percent from the field, but Samford had 15 turnovers compared to seven for Davidson.

Jordan Capps led Samford with 14 points.

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