Jermaine Johnson scored 18 points while David Lawrence added 15 as the College of Charleston downed Western Carolina, 76-64, in Southern Conference basketball action before 3,242 at John Kresse Arena on Monday.

With the win, Charleston 13th in its last 15 games, the Cougars improved to 16-8 overall and 9-3 in league play. Western Carolina, who got a career-high 39 points from freshman Nick Aldridge, is 9-14 and 6-6.

The Cougars grabbed an early 8-0 advantage just 3:10 into the contest en route to a 44-29 lead at intermission. Lawrence, who equaled his career-high with four 3-pointers, had 12 points in the first half.

Lawrence capped a 10-2 run by Charleston to start the second half with a 3-pointer to give the Cougars their largest lead at 54-31 with 17:04 remaining.

Western Carolina fought back and cut the margin to 62-53 with 6:13 remaining on a layup by Aldridge. The Cougars answered back with a layup by Johnson and a 3-pointer by Dontaye Draper to take a 67-53 lead with just 3:37 left.

Charleston's Philip McCandies enjoyed his fourth double-double of the season with 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Draper added 11 points while freshman Tony White, Jr. added 10 points off the bench.

Aldridge hit 14-of-28 shots from the field including 1-of-2 from behind the arc. He also connected on 10-of-12 free throw attempts. Arnold Gore added eight points, but no other Catamount had more than five.

For the game, the Cougars shot 55.1 percent from the floor and 45.5 percent from the 3-point line hitting on 10-of-22 attempts. WCU hit 40.4 percent for the game and just 1-of-13 from behind the arc.

The Cougars play at UNC Greensboro on Saturday