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CHARLESTON, S.C. – For the College of Charleston men's basketball program, its 93-64 rout of Western Carolina on Thursday night at Carolina First Arena will be remembered for many years to come.
Two historic milestones would be set. First, a 36-year-old scoring record rewritten by one of the greatest players to ever don the Maroon and White, and second, a special place in the NCAA Division I record books for one of the top college basketball coaches of all-time in fifth-year head coach Bobby Cremins.
Preseason Southern Conference Player of the Year Andrew Goudelock (Stone Mountain, Ga.) scored a game-high 29 points en route to becoming the school's all-time career scoring leader with 2,147 career points to date. Goudelock entered the game needing just 18 points to surpass former CofC standout Ken (Gus) Gustafson who recorded 2,135 career points from 1971-75.
Ironically, he would do it the signature 'Goudelock way' on a floating jumper off the dish from sophomore Andrew Lawrence (London, England) over Western Carolina's Blake Gallagher with 2:12 remaining in the first half. No one could stop him the rest of the way. He kept the crowd on their feet as he drained a follow-up three-pointer with under a minute and 10 to go to give the Cougars' a 20-point halftime lead, 48-28.
Senior Jeremy Simmons (Lithonia, Ga.) added 20 points for the Cougars (13-6, 6-1) who snapped the Catamounts' (8-11, 4-3) four-game winning streak and kept their stance in the Southern Conference regular-season race with Chattanooga (11-9, 7-1) and South Division rival Wofford (9-9, 6-1).
In fact, Simmons and Goudelock scored 22 of the team's first 27 points of the game to avenge a 100-90 barn burner of a game a year ago on the road at Western Carolina. The Cougars shot a season-high tying 57.1 percent from the field including 61.8 percent in the second half (21-of-34). Sophomore Willis Hall (Charlotte, N.C.) and senior Donavan Monroe (Waxhaw, N.C.) contributed 10 each to the winning cause.
The historic win also sealed Cremins' 100th career victory at The College as he now joins a short list of 11 all-time head coaches to record 100-or-more victories at three different NCAA Division I schools including his former mentor and college coach, the late Frank McGuire, who coached St. John's, North Carolina and South Carolina from 1948-61. Cremins also coached at Appalachian State from 1976-81 and Georgia Tech from 1982-2000.
CofC will host Appalachian State on Saturday, Jan. 22 at Carolina First Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. (ET) and the game will be televised regionally on SportSouth. 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 17th 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 (11-6).
• With the victory, the Cougars now lead 16-6 in the all-time series with Western Carolina. They have won three of the last four meetings between the two schools. It was their largest margin of victory over an opponent this season (+29).
• Andrew Goudelock registered a game-high 29 points in only 27 minutes of play versus the Catamounts. He broke the school's all-time career scoring record formerly held for 36 years by former CofC standout Ken (Gus) Gustafson who tabulated 2,135 career points from 1971-75. It marked Goudelock's 37th career 20-point game and he now stands at 2,147 career points to date.
• In the postgame press conference, Goudelock had to fight back tears, but laughed when he explained that he wore the No. 3 on his jersey for his favorite player growing up, Allen Iverson, and not because he likes to shoot the three.
• Jeremy Simmons turned in his fifth 20-point game of his career versus WCU. He went 8-of-11 from the floor and also added five rebounds, three steals and one blocked shot in 25 minutes of action.
• Andrew Lawrence dished out a career-and game-high seven assists including the record-setting pass to Goudelock at the 2:12 mark in the first half. The Cougars have now made 20-or-more assists in back-to-back games at Chattanooga (22) on Jan. 17 and against Western Carolina (20).
• CofC scored a season-high 93 points against Western Carolina which tied its 93 points versus Holy Cross on Nov. 13.
• For the game, the Cougars shot 57.1 percent from the floor (40-of-70) including 61.8 percent in the second half which tied for the second-best shooting percentage in a game this season behind a season-high 63.6 percent at Holy Cross on Nov. 13 and 57.1 percent at Tennessee on Dec. 31.
• Former CofC star Otto German (1970-73), who currently serves at CofC's Director of Compliance, was honored after the second media timeout of the first half and was presented with a plaque by CofC Director of Athletics Joe Hull.
• All 13 of the active players on the CofC roster checked into the ballgame including walk-ons Bart Benton, Garrett Campbell and Jordan Turok. Freshman Jordan Scott reset a career-high in points (8).
POSTGAME QUOTES
College of Charleston Head Coach Bobby Cremins
On the game …
“Western Carolina came in here with a four-game winning streak. They defeated a BIG EAST team. We had great respect for them coming in here. Of course, (Andrew) Goudelock is amazing. I want to congratulate him. We didn't talk about it beforehand, but it is such a great accomplishment. I told (Western Carolina head coach) Larry (Hunter) after the game, 'Goudelock is something' and he said, 'you better believe he is something.' I'm sure everyone is going to be glad when he is gone next year. He had tremendous concentration and he made some great shots. When he makes shots like that, he energizes everybody and the crowd. Our other players did a great job as well tonight.”
On what he told Goudelock after the game …
“I've been very fortunate to coach some great players in my career and Drew Goudelock is as good a player as I've ever coached. I get mad at him sometimes with turnovers. I told him it's a great achievement and it shows tremendous determination on his part.”
College of Charleston Senior Guard Andrew Goudelock
On breaking the all-time scoring record combined with a win for his team …
“It feels great to break records, but the individual stuff is nothing, if your team is not winning. It always feels good to get a win.”
On what it meant to break the record …
“Anytime you break a record like that, it is very special. I got really emotional for a second. I thought I was going to cry. It is kind of surreal when you do something like that, because you don't expect to do those things. My parents (Marvin and Angela Austin) have always supported me and I've had a lot of good people around me. It feels great.”
On Coach Cremins giving him a chance five years ago having not …
“I feel fortunate. I'm pretty happy that I came here now. The way things turn out can be strange, but it's a blessing in disguise. I'm happy with the way everything turned out and to be on this team with great people and great coaches, it's fantastic.”
College of Charleston Senior Forward Jeremy Simmons
On being aware of Goudelock's pursuit of the school's all-time scoring record …
“I knew he was close. I didn't think he was going to get it that quick, but he got it pretty quick. It's a great accomplishment for him. It shows how hard he works and how dedicated he is.”
On feeding off the crowd …
“Once I heard everyone cheering in the arena, I looked at the big screen and was like 'oh, that's what they are cheering about.'”
On what the team said to Goudelock after the game …
“We said congratulations to him. It is a great accomplishment. Not very many people do that. We play some tough teams on our conference schedule. We are glad he came here.”
