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Curry heats up in second half again as Davidson edges Chattanooga

Dec 14, 2008 - 5:18 AM DAVIDSON, North Carolina (Ticker) -- Stephen Curry had another big finish to lift 22nd-ranked Davidson to a 100-95 victory over Chattanooga in the Southern Conference opener for both teams.

Curry had 10 points at the half as Davidson trailed 44-40. He came to life over the final 20 minutes, scoring 31 more to lead the Wildcats to the win.

Will Archambault scored 20 points, Brendan McKillop 12 and Andrew Lovedale had 18 rebounds for the Wildcats (8-1, 1-0 Southern), who have won six straight.

"I am absolutely thrilled about how hard we competed," Davidson coach Bob McKillop said. "I'm particularly pleased with Andrew Lovedale. He hasn't practiced since Thursday, so for him to have not played since West Virginia on Tuesday night and to have the performance he did, I am thrilled with that."

Stephen McDowell scored 31 points, Kevin Goffney added 15 and Keyron Sheard had 13 for the Mocs (1-6, 0-1).

Curry finished 11-of-22 from the field and made 5-of-11 attempts from the arc. He was also 14-of-18 from the free-throw line and made four in the final 37 seconds and the Wildcats had to withstand a late rally by the Mocs.

A jumper by Curry with 2:21 to play made it 92-78 and gave Davidson its largest lead. But Chattanooga did not go quietly, putting together a 17-5 run to close within two.

McDowell hit three 3-pointers in the spurt and Goffney made it 97-95 with 30 seconds to go with a basket from the arc. Curry then made 1-of-2 from the line and, after McDowell missed from long range, Curry made two more free throws to cap the scoring.

"Steph was magnificent, absolutely magnificent," McKillop said.

The Mocs shot 50 percent (16-of-32) in the first half and got 15 points from McDowell to open their four-point lead.

"Our guys got a message sent to them tonight," McKillop said. "If they think any game in the Southern Conference is going to be easy compared to the West Virginias, N.C. States, Oklahomas, I think they learned tonight that every Southern Conference game is going to be a battle."