CHARLESTON, S.C. – A second-half surge lifted the College of Charleston to an 83-67 come-from-behind victory over Coastal Carolina in the team's home opener held Tuesday night before a crowd of 3,917 at Carolina First Arena.
It was definitely a tale of two halves for the Cougars (2-1), who shot a dismal 39.3 percent from the floor in a first half marred by nine turnovers and being outrebounded 30-16 at one point of the game.
The Chanticleers (2-1) were in control from the very beginning and set the pace. They led by as many as 15 points in the final minutes of the half to carry a comfortable 40-28 lead into halftime.
Out of the locker room, it was whole a different story for the Cougars as they jumped out to a 13-4 run to get within three of Coastal on an and-one play by preseason Southern Conference Player of the Year Andrew Goudelock (Stone Mountain, Ga.) and a three-pointer by junior Antwaine Wiggins (Greenville, Tenn.). They improved their second-half shooting close to 70 percent, minimized their turnovers to three and cleared the glass more efficiently.
More impressively, CofC shot 46.2 percent (12-of-26) from beyond the arc against a Coastal squad that led the nation in three-point field-goal percentage defense (27.5) in 2009-10 and had only allowed its last two opponents of the season to 25 percent from downtown.
The Cougars dialed in from long distance connecting on eight of their season-high 12 three-pointers in their second-half turnaround. The momentum shifted when Goudelock hit a long-range three with 12:06 left in regulation to tie the ballgame at 53-all.
Coastal Carolina's Desmond Holloway responded with a jumper to take back the lead, but Goudelock knocked down another three-pointer less than 30 seconds later to give the Cougars the advantage for good. He ended the night with a season-high tying 27 points and was just short of a triple double with a season-high nine assists and five rebounds. For the second-straight contest, sophomore Willis Hall (Charlotte, N.C.) set the tone for CofC with seven of the team's first 12 points and brought down a team-high eight boards, while Wiggins added 12 and senior Jeremy Simmons (Lithonia, Ga.) had 11.
Holloway led Coastal with a 24-point and nine-rebound effort followed by 14 from Danny Nieman. The win avenged a 70-59 loss to the Chanticleers in last year's season opener in Myrtle Beach, S.C., which was the first win in the series for the defending Big South Conference champions since 1993.
Up next, the Cougars prepare for another quick turnaround as they travel to the Midwest to play three-straight games against Postseason NIT semifinalist Rhode Island on Friday, Nov. 19 at 4:30 p.m. (ET), Illinois-Chicago on Saturday, Nov. 20 at 4:30 p.m. (ET) and host Toledo on Sunday, Nov. 21 at 3 p.m. (ET) as part of the Toledo Subregional of the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer in Toledo, Ohio.
POSTGAME NOTES
• For the third time this season and third-consecutive game, CofC used the starting lineup of senior Donavan Monroe, senior Andrew Goudelock, redshirt junior Antwaine Wiggins, sophomore Willis Hall and senior Jeremy Simmons (2-1).
• With the victory, the Cougars move to 32-12 in the all-times series with Coastal Carolina and has now won 11 of the last 12 meetings between the two schools. They avenged last year's season-opening 70-59 road loss to the Chanticleers in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
• Coach Cremins coached his 900th career game versus the Chanticleers guided on the sidelines by longtime friend Cliff Ellis. Both coaches previously had a friendly rivalry in the ACC with Cremins at Georgia Tech and Ellis at Clemson in the early 80s and 90s. It marked Cremin's 89th victory at CofC and 543rd of his career.
• The Cougars drained a season-high 12 three-pointers in the game behind four long-range bombs by Andrew Goudelock including two game-changers in the second half of play. They shot 46.2 percent from beyond the arc against a Coastal team which led the nation in three-point field goal percentage defense in 2009-10 and had previously held opponents this season to 25 percent from downtown.
• Andrew Goudelock tied his season-high with 27 points which marked his 28th 20-point game of his career and has now stands at 1,766 points in his career. He is the school's all-time career three-point leader with 276 treys to date.
• CofC is now 2-0 on the season when shooting 50 percent or better from the floor in back-to-back games against Holy Cross (63.6 percent) and Coastal Carolina (51.8 percent).
• For the second-straight contest, Willis Hall got hot in the opening minutes and scored seven of the team's first 12 points of the game. He scored 13 of his 15 points in the first half of play.
• Freshmen Jordan Scott and Nori Johnson made their collegiate debuts in the final seconds of the Coastal Carolina game.
POSTGAME QUOTES
College of Charleston Head Coach Bobby Cremins
On the game …
“What a way to open up the season. We were in trouble and we got outplayed in the first half. Coastal came in here ready to play. We have respect for them, but we didn't know we were going to come in and tank. I'm so proud of these guys. It was one of the best second halves we have played. We had our backs against the wall and then all of a sudden we got hot. When we start making shots, we are a different team. Things started clicking. We played better defense. I'm proud of the way we came out in the second half. They kept their confidence and didn't get down and they kept on shooting. The fans were great. I'm glad we were playing at home tonight.”
Senior Guard Andrew Goudelock
On getting hot in the second half …
“Coach (Cremins) always tells me to keep shooting and keep my confidence. Whenever I have an opportunity, I try to shoot it with as much confidence as I can. As long as the team keeps having confidence in me, then I'll have confidence in myself. They help me out so much and put me in positions to score the ball.”
On what Coach Cremins said to the team at halftime …
“He told us to keep playing. He always preaches to us to never give up. He always tells us to keep playing and keep our heads up. It seems like whenever he says something is going to happen, it happens. He said we were going to get hot and get back in the game and that is exactly what happened.”
Sophomore Forward Willis Hall
On getting tough in the second half …
“We came out and did our thing and as Coach (Cremins) said, 'it started going our way.' We definitely came up with some good steals and transition buckets in the second half to pick us up off of some tough defensive stops.”
