Davidson Wins 2013 Basketball Championship - Mar 12, 2013

ASHEVILLE, N.C. Davidson cruised to its 12th Southern Conference Mens Basketball Championship title, 74-55, over College of Charleston on Monday night in ExploreAsheville.com Arena at U.S. Cellular Center. The win moves the Wildcats to 26-7 on the season, while CofC falls to 24-10.

It was a wire-to-wire win in front of a raucous crowd as Davidsons students came en masse as the teams sixth man. Tournament Most Outstanding Player DeMon Brooks (6'7''-F-92) led the way with 24 points and eight rebounds. J.P. Kuhlman (6'4''-G-90) added 14 for the winners.

Andrew Lawrence (6'1''-PG-90) paced the Cougars with 19 points on the evening. Adjehi Baru (6'9''-F/C-91) added 11. CofC was limited to 29.8 percent shooting from the field (17-for-57) including a mere 1-for-10 (10%) from 3-point range. It marked season lows for field goal percentage, 3-pointers made and 3-point percentage

Charleston made an early run in the second half after falling behind 12, 38-26, on a Kuhlman trey to open the scoring. Baru hit two free throws, Lawrence a jumper in the lane and Baru again in the paint to get within six, 38-32, with 18:07 to play. Thats as close as it would get as Davidson methodically put the Cougars away.

The score drifted into double digits and back to eight over the course of the next 11 minutes. Brooks sent it into double figures for good with a layup, 61-50, at 7:47. That started a run of nine unanswered points and 13-2 overall to get to a 20-point cushion, 72-52, on a layup by a streaking Jake Cohen on a nice feed from Nik Cochran with just under three minutes to play.

Jake Belfords layup with 1:40 remaining posted the largest lead of 21, 74-53. Trent Wiedeman made a couple of free throws in the last minute-and-a-half for the final tally of 74-55.

Cohen had 12 points, five boards and three blocks on the night, while Cochran added 10 points and four assists. The Wildcats shot 54.9 percent (28-for-51) from the field, but just 25.0 percent (4-for-16) from beyond the arc. They did shoot 68.6 percent (24-for-35) inside the arc. That led to a 42-24 edge in points in the paint.

Davidson got off to a great start, scoring the games first seven points. Lawrences 3-pointer at 14:44 made it a 10-8 game. The Wildcats went on a 12-2 spurt to jump out by 12, 24-12, for the largest lead of the first half, on a layup by Brooks.

CofC battled back with a 14-7 stretch to get within five, 31-26, on a Lawrence free throw. Chris Czerapowicz and Kuhlman ended the first half with scores as Kuhlman drove to the basket for a layup with a second to spare and a 35-26 lead.

The Wildcats hold the SoCon record with 12 tournament titles over Chattanooga and West Virginia with 10 apiece. It is the seventh of the Bob McKillop era and fifth in the last eight seasons, which is the most impressive run of conference crowns since the Mocs four in five years from 1993-97. Since 2002, only Davidson (six), UTC (two) and Wofford (two) have won the leagues tourney.

The all-tourney first team included Brooks, Cohen, Baru, Lawrence and Trey Sumler (Western Carolina). Kuhlman, Cochran, Lucas Troutman (Elon), Derrell Armstrong (UNCG) and Nathan Healy (Appalachian State) comprised the second team.

Davidson now awaits news of its NCAA tournament site. Selection Sunday is March 17 airing at 6 p.m. on CBS. The Cougars also wait for news of their postseason landing spot.

Courtesy of SoCon

Southern Conf. Tournament Final: Davidson - College of Charleston 74-55
Southern Conf. Tournament Semifinals:
Davidson - Appalachian State 65-62
College of Charleston - Elon 68-60

All-Southern Conf. 1st Team 2012-2013
#s#	Cohen	Healy	Lawrence	Groselle	Brooks	#e#5