WORCESTER, Mass. – Five players scored in double figures including career-highs by senior Jeremy Simmons (Lithonia, Ga.) and sophomore Willis Hall (Charlotte, N.C.) to lead the College of Charleston men's basketball team to a 93-84 road victory at Holy Cross on Saturday night before a near-capacity crowd at Hart Center.
It was the Hall and Simmons show in the opening minutes of play against the Crusaders (0-1). Hall exploded with 10 of the team's first 14 points of the game including two three-pointers to spark an early 8-4 run by the Cougars (1-1). Simmons, who had six of the team's first 14, silenced the crowd with a two-handed dunk on a pass from Hall and ended the night with a game-and career-high 22 points.
CofC shot the lights out in the first half going 70.4 percent from the floor (19-of-27) and making all seven of their free throw attempts. Holy Cross led only once on a game-opening layup by preseason All-Patriot League selection Andrew Keister and the Cougars never relinquished control thereafter.
They led 52-39 at halftime and stretched it out to as many as 20 as senior Donavan Monroe (Waxhaw, N.C.) connected from beyond the arc, 68-48, at the 13:39 minute mark. The Crusaders were able to cut the lead down to 10 on a three-point play by R.J. Evans with 9:07 to go, but it wasn't enough to stop the Cougars, who were coming off a hard-fought 75-74 loss at Maryland on Wednesday night.
Evans and Mike Cavataio both paced Holy Cross with a team-high 16, while preseason Southern Conference Player of the Year Andrew Goudelock (Stone Mountain, Ga.) added 18 to the winning effort as did freshman Trent Wiedeman (Suwanee, Ga.) and Monroe with 13 and 10 respectively.
CofC returns home to the friendly confines of Carolina First Arena to take on Coastal Carolina (0-0) in its home opener scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 16, at 7 p.m. (ET). It will be a Cougar Basketball doubleheader versus the Chanticleers as the Cougar women also face Coastal at 5 p.m. (ET).
To purchase season or single-game tickets, please call 1-843-953-COFC (2632) or visit the CofC Athletics Ticket Center online at www.CofCSports.com/tickets.
POSTGAME NOTES
• For the second time this season and second-straight game, CofC used the starting five of senior Donavan Monroe, senior Andrew Goudelock, redshirt junior Antwaine Wiggins, sophomore Willis Hall and senior Jeremy Simmons (1-1).
• With the victory, the Cougars take a 1-0 lead in the all-time series with Holy Cross and are now 3-5 all-time against Patriot League schools.
• CofC shot 63.6 percent from the floor (35-of-55) against the Crusaders. It was their highest-shooting percentage in a single game since going 63.4 percent versus Western Carolina on Feb. 22, 2009.
• Willis Hall knocked down a career-high four three-pointers in the game and had 10 of the team's first 14 points of the contest. He ended the night with a career-high 20 points including 16 in the first half of play. It marked his first 20-point outing of his career.
• Jeremy Simmons also registered a career-high 22 points and a team-high eight rebounds versus the Crusaders. It was his second 20-point game of his career.
• In only his second game of his young CofC career, freshman Trent Wiedeman came off the bench and contributed a career-best 13 points in just 19 minutes of action at Holy Cross. He also went a perfect 5-for-5 from the charity stripe.
• Holy Cross and NBA Basketball great Bob Cousy, Coach Cremin's childhood idol, was in attendance at the game.
• The Worcester (Mass.) Fire Department was recognized at the second media timeout of the first half of the game. In 2007, the contingent from Worcester aided the Charleston (S.C.) Fire Department when nine firefighters were killed in a warehouse fire in West Ashley.
POSTGAME QUOTES
College of Charleston Head Coach Bobby Cremins
On the game …
“Anytime you win on the road, you have accomplished something. I don't care who you play. Holy Cross was ready to play. They did a good job scouting and double-teaming (Andrew) Goudelock. Our sophomore Willis Hall saved us tonight. He made four threes and got on fire. I also can't say enough good things about Trent Wiedeman coming off the bench. We got off to a great start and got hot in the first half, but we didn't close it with a good finish. Holy Cross is a great school. These are class kids and they fight and play hard. They never gave up. We just played very well and shot the lights out in the first half. We had some turnovers late in the game, but I'm really happy with the win.”
On looking ahead at Coastal Carolina in the team's home opener …
“Coastal Carolina went to the NIT last year and made the championship game. Cliff Ellis has a team. They beat us last year on the road and it should be an exciting game. I wish we had more time to prepare (with the quick turnaround from tonight's Holy Cross game).
Senior Forward Jeremy Simmons
On picking up the victory on the road …
“We were aggressive tonight. We knew we would be playing in another tough road environment, so we had to come out and play as a team and as a family, and we did.”
Sophomore Forward Willis Hall
On the game …
“It was a grind, but it's great to get a W. We hit free throws when we needed to tonight. Our points off of rotation on defense was incredible. For the most part, we made a slight improvement from the mistakes we made in the Maryland game.”
