Strong Scores 22 to Lead Gamecocks Past Charleston Southern

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Elijah Strong scored 20 of his season-high 22 points in the second half and South Carolina beat Charleston Southern 74-62 on Friday.

The Gamecocks pulled away when Kobe Knox scored on a one-handed dunk, sparking a 16-4 run for a 57-45 lead with about seven minutes to play. Strong scored seven points during the stretch.

A little more than a minute later, Jesse Hafemeister answered with a 3-pointer and Brycen Blaine made a layup to pull the Buccaneers to 57-50 but they didn’t get closer.

Strong, who spent the past two seasons at Boston College, shot 8 of 11 in the second half. Knox finished with 15 points and Nordin Kapic added 11 for South Carolina (5-2), which ended a two-game skid.

Blaine scored 23 points to lead Charleston Southern (5-4). A’lahn Sumler added 14 points and Hafemeister had 10.

Knox scored seven points to help the Gamecocks build a 30-28 halftime advantage. Blaine scored 12 first-half points to pace Charleston Southern. A Blaine 3-pointer gave the Buccaneers their last lead, 40-39, with about 13 minutes left in the second half.

KEY STATS

• After going just 3-of-7 the first half, Carolina was 16-of-18 (88.9%) from the charity stripe the final 20 minutes of the game.
• The Gamecock defense held the Buccaneers to just 35.7% (25-of-70) from the floor and 7-of-31 (22.6%) from behind the arc. Carolina’s 3-point defense is 48^th in KenPom currently as the team has allowed just 28.7% shooting from behind the arc thru seven games this season.

NOTABLES

• Junior forward Elijah Strong led the team with a season-high 22 points off the bench, 20 of which came in the second half. It was Strong’s second career 20-point game and his first in Garnet and Black. He was 9-of-16 (56.3%) from the floor in just 16 minutes of action. Strong played just 3 minutes in the opening half.
• Redshirt senior guard Kobe Knox also scored a season-high, finishing with 15 points. He was an efficient 6-of-8 from the floor with a highlight reel poster dunk in the second half that helped the team surge ahead.
• Freshman guard Eli Ellis nearly recorded his first career double-double with nine points and a career-high nine rebounds (led the team). He added an assist and a steal in 31 minutes on the floor.
• Senior guard Mike Sharavjamts was on triple-double watch, finishing with eight points, eight rebounds and a team-high seven assists. He also had two blocks and two steals on the defensive end. Sharavjamts’ seven helpers were a season high and it marked the 22^nd game of his career with five or more assists.
• Senior forward Nordin Kapic had 11 points, five rebounds and an assist in his first start since the Southern Miss game back on Nov. 9. It was his first double-figure outing since scoring 13 in a season-opening win over NC A&T back on Nov. 4.
• Despite only scoring four points, senior Meechie Johnson continued to lead on the defensive end of the floor as he had the best +/- on the court, finishing +13 in 29 minutes of run.
• South Carolina improves to 43-9 (.827 win percentage) when holding opponents below 70 points in four seasons under head coach Lamont Paris.
• The Gamecocks improve to 9-0 the last two seasons (2-0 this season) when holding opponents below 40.0% shooting.

UP NEXT
South Carolina (5-2) remains home as it welcomes in Virginia Tech (6-2) for the ACC/SEC Challenge. It’ll be the third-straight season the Gamecocks and Hokies have met with Carolina winning each matchup on a neutral floor. Anish Shroff (pxp) and Chris Spatola (analyst) will be on the call for the SEC Network broadcast.

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