CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Chattanooga remained undefeated and took its place as the early front runner in the Southern Conference race by getting past College of Charleston, 91-88, on Monday night at McKenzie Arena.
The Mocs (11-8, 7-0) shot 45.5 percent from beyond the arc (10-of-22) including a three-pointer by Omar Wattad which put UTC up for good, 81-78, with 4:10 remaining in regulation. The win ended a three-game losing skid for Chattanooga, who the Cougars (12-6, 5-1) previously swept in regular-season play and knocked out of the SoCon Tournament quarterfinals in Charlotte, N.C.
If anything, it showed early implications of which two teams, one from the North Division and one from the South Division, could be vying for the SoCon Tournament title in the same building two months from now.
Sophomore Willis Hall (Charlotte, N.C.) knocked down two three-pointers to give the Cougars an early 8-0 lead in a fast-paced first half. Threes kept on falling by both teams as senior Andrew Goudelock (Stone Mountain, Ga.) connected from way downtown to push the lead to 11-1 after Chattanooga's Jeremy Saffore ended his team's drought by making the second of two attempts from the charity stripe.
The Cougars led by as many as 12 points on another Goudelock three, 33-21, with 11:22 left in the half. The Mocs closed the gap to two, 41-39, on a Wattad three at the 6:56 minute mark with both teams shooting better than 56 percent from the floor at the time. A layup by DeAntre Jefferson tied the game at 41-all as the Cougars called timeout.
Chris Early sank two free throws to give Chattanooga its first lead, 48-46, with 3:30 to go and the Mocs would go into the locker room with a 53-46 halftime advantage.
In the second half of play, Hall connected on his third three-pointer of the ballgame to get the Cougars back within one, 69-68, as they took advantage of a four-minute scoring drought by UTC. The three-point shootout continued as Goudelock hit a three to put CofC up again, 76-75, but Saffore is fouled on the layup in transition and converts the three-pointer play, 78-66, with 6:22 remaining.
CofC continued to fight as Goudelock sank a driving layup off the glass to tie up the game for the third and final time of the contest, 78-78, with under five left on the clock, but the Cougars could never get closer than three in the final minutes as Chattanooga held on for its third victory in the course of five days.
Goudelock ended the night with a team-high 26 points followed by senior Jeremy Simmons (Lithonia, Ga.) with a14-point and game-high 12-rebound double-double performance and Hall with 15.
The Cougars return home to host Western Carolina on Thursday, Jan. 20, at Carolina First Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. (ET) and tickets can be purchased by calling 1-843-953-COFC (2632) or visiting the CofC Athletics Ticket Center online at www.CofCSports.com/tickets.
POSTGAME NOTES
• For the 16th time this season, CofC used the starting lineup of senior Donavan Monroe, senior Andrew Goudelock, junior Antwaine Wiggins, sophomore Willis Hall and senior Jeremy Simmons (10-6).
• With the win, Chattanooga ends a three-game losing skid in the all-time series, but College of Charleston still holds a 15-11 advantage. It was the Cougars' first loss since falling 80-69 to UTC in the 2009 SoCon Tournament title game on March 9, 2009 in Chattanooga, Tenn.
• Andrew Goudelock scored a team-high 26 points and is now 18 points shy of breaking the school's all-time career scoring record held by former CofC standout Ken Gustafson (2,135) with 2,118 career points to date.
• Jeremy Simmons registered his eighth career double-double with 14 points and a season-high tying and game-high 12 rebounds versus Chattanooga.
• Donavan Monroe made a career-high eight assists against the Mocs. The Cougars dished out a season-high 22 assists in the ballgame behind an additional eight by Goudelock.
• Willis Hall turned in a league season-high 15 points and has scored in double figures in three of the last five contests. He knocked down two game-opening three-pointers to give the Cougars' an 8-0 lead in the early going.
• CofC drained eight first-half three-pointers which was one short of a season-high nine first-half threes at Tennessee on Dec. 31. The Cougars ended the night with 13 treys which was one short of a season-high 14 versus the Vols. They have made 13 threes in back-to-back games against The Citadel on Jan. 15 and UTC.
• The Cougars are 1-4 this season when trailing an opponent at halftime. They shot 45.8 percent from the floor (33-of-72) against the Mocs which was a league season-low for the team in six SoCon games played.
POSTGAME QUOTES
College of Charleston Head Coach Bobby Cremins
On the game …
“It was a great Southern Conference basketball game. We looked like the Boston Celtics out there when we started the game and I couldn't believe it. We were so hot. They have some great shooters. (Omar) Wattad is a great addition to their team. They are tough and they play smart. (Chattanooga head coach) John (Shulman) does a great coaching job. They ran a great back door on us at a crucial time. The big thing, though, is we still have to play Thursday and Saturday, so we have to go home, get some rest and be ready for another tough conference game on Thursday against Western Carolina.”
