The Terriers guard hit key 3-pointers down the stretch to sink the Mocs on Saturday night.
Fletcher Magee wasn’t going to stay cold forever.
Magee, who seemed to struggle with his shooting much of the night, hit three straight 3-pointers down the stretch Saturday and Wofford beat Chattanooga, 71-67, at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium.
Wofford (14-5, 5-1 Southern Conference) took its 10th straight home victory since the opening game loss against South Carolina. The Terriers won their 11th in the past 12 games.
With five minutes left, Wofford was down by six and Magee, the league’s leading scorer, was 2-for-9 on 3-pointers, 5-for-15 overall. But then he made a long one from the top of the key on a catch-and-release, followed by one with a head fake to tie the game at 61. Another put the Terriers up, 66-61, with two minutes left.
Although he didn’t even score until there was 3:30 left in the first half, Magee finished with 26 points for his 64th straight game in double figures.
“It was weird,” Magee said. “My first ones felt really off. Then it started to feel good and not go in. Then it started to feel good and go in. It was just a progression. I figured it was about to come.”
Chattanooga (6-14, 0-7) was up by as many as 11 points in the first half. The Terriers caught up quickly, back-to-back threes by Magee and Nathan Hoover (16 points), followed by a three-point play by Trevor Stumpe (10 points). Matt Pegram had eight of his 10 points in the first half with a dunk right before the buzzer.
“That wasn’t a matter of Wofford playing poorly,” Terriers head coach Mike Young said. “Chattanooga was playing good basketball. The outplayed us in the first half. …Fletcher had a less-than-Fletcher first half. Five points and he didn’t look very good. I thought his balance was bad. But you know he’s going to flip the switch and get the juices flowing. And he did.”
Hoover had baskets right before and during Magee’s hot streak. A fast-break layup on a pass from Storm Murphy (five assists) gave Wofford a 63-61 lead, which the Terriers never relinquished.
“We basically said the first half happened and we can’t do anything about it,” Hoover said. “We came out in the second half with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. That’s what got us over the hump.”
In the final 30 seconds, Wofford made five of six free throws, including two by Magee with 5.9 seconds left to ice it. The Mocs really didn’t want the nation’s top foul shooter at the line, but they couldn’t help it. Murphy had the in-bounds pass to Magee.
“It was huge,” Magee said. “Against Samford, I went long and got it to seal the game (93-89 victory on Thursday). I’m sure Chattanooga saw that on film. I was in a similar spot and acted like I was going long again, but I came back to the middle and he got it to me.”
Young had to manage his lineup at the end when Pegram, Stumpe and fellow starter Derrick Brooks all had four fouls. In addition to that, Cameron Jackson didn’t play the final eight minutes because he was knocked hard to the floor. He was holding his head when he went into the tunnel. Jackson, the team’s second-leading scorer, played just 18 minutes and had six points with three rebounds.
“Tonight was just about digging deep,” Young said. “We found a way to win and that’s all that matters. You’re not going to play great ball every night. I am just thankful that we made a couple of more plays than they did. We had some luck getting out of here. Of course, it helps to have a Fletcher Magee.”