Andrew Goudelock (Lilburn, Ga.) scored 17 points and Jermaine Johnson (Los Angeles, Calif.) added 16 points including the go-ahead bucket with 3:30 remaining lifting the College of Charleston to a 72-66 win over SIU-Edwardsville before 4,385 in opening round action of the 2008 Charleston Classic.  It was Charleston's first game in its new Carolina First Arena.

Charleston (1-0) takes on Temple at 2:00 on Saturday.  SIU-Edwardsville (0-1) plays East Tennessee State at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday.

Johnson, who was 7-for-10 from the floor, hit a shot in the lane that gave the Cougars the lead for good at 66-65 on an assist from Dustin Scott (Jamestown, S.C.). 

Charleston, which built a 34-31 lead at intermission, opened the second half with a 7-0 run capped by Goudelock's jumper for a 41-31 advantage with 16:41 remaining.

SIU-Edwardsville answered with a 29-14 run to take a 60-58 lead with 7:45 left.  Charleston, which forced 24 turnovers, outscored the visiting Cougars 14-6 the rest of the way to earn the win.

Antwaine Wiggins (Greeneville, Tenn.) and Jeremy Simmons (Lithonia, Ga.) added 11 and 10 points each, respectively for Charleston.  Johnson pulled down a game-high seven rebounds for the Cougars.

SIU-Edwardsville got a game-high 21 points off the bench from Mark Yelovich and 19 points from Barry Wellington.