Jermaine Johnson scored a career-high 26 points and equalled his career-high with 14 rebounds as the College of Charleston held on for a thrilling 86-84 win over Western Carolina in Southern Conference men's basketball action before 1,671 at the Ramsey Center on Saturday.
With the win, the Cougars improved to 4-3 overall and 1-0 in SoCon play. Charleston plays at SoCon foe Chattanooga on Saturday, Dec. 15 at 7:00. The Catamounts, who missed a layup at the buzzer that would have sent the game into overtime, fell to 2-5 and 0-2.
Trailing by two points in the waning moments, Western Carolina forward Arnold Gore's missed a game-tying layup attempt as time expired. Catamount freshman forward Blake Gallagher boarded an Andrew Goudelock missed free throw, igniting a fast break that featured a coast-to-coast dribble drive by freshman Michael Porrini who dished to Gore on the low block for a contested layup. Feeling the pressure from the Cougar defense, Gore missed a reverse layup attempt as the horn sounded.
Johnson, who had 21 points and 10 rebounds in Charleston's 79-70 win over Charleston Southern on Wednesday, scored eight points and grabbed four crucial rebounds over the final 5:42 to help Charleston to its third straight win and fourth victory in its last five games.
Johnson hit 9-of-13 from the field including his only 3-point attempt. Johnson connected on 7-of-8 free throw attempts. Freshman Andrew Goudelock added 20 and a career-high five assists in 26 minutes of action. Freshmen Antwaine Wiggins and Jeremy Simmons added 11 points each, respectively.
Brandon Giles led WCU with a game-high 32 points while Gore added 15 points and Porrini 14.
For the game, Charleston shot 47.5 percent from the floor hitting 28-of-59 attempts. The Cougars shot 83.3 percent from the free throw line missing just four of 24 attempts. Western Carolina shot 47.7 percent from the floor and 73.7 percent from the free throw line.
Charleston's bench outscored Western Carolina's reserves, 34-4. The Cougars have won their last nine matchups with the Catamounts.
