College of Charleston
Central Florida
UCF Snaps Cougars' Win Streak With 74-63 Victory at Battle 4 Atlantis
11/24/2011 10:43:00 PM | Men's Basketball
PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas - Central Florida's Keith Clanton turned in a double-double with a game-high 28 points and 14 rebounds to snap the College of Charleston's three-game winning streak, 74-63, in the first game of the inaugural Battle 4 Atlantis tournament held Thursday afternoon at Imperial Arena.
The Cougars (3-1) led by as many as seven points with 11:06 remaining in regulation where CofC seemed poised to maintain a comfortable lead on a three-pointer by redshirt junior Matt Sundberg (Kennesaw, Ga.). Two minutes later, the Knights (3-1) would cut it down to one on three-pointers by Clanton and Marcus Jordan, the younger of two sons of NBA legend Michael Jordan on the UCF squad.
It was a closely-contested game which saw 15 lead changes and nine ties. Nothing would go down for the Cougars as they consistently found the open look in the final seven-minute stretch, but couldn't get anything to stick. Foul trouble and being outrebounded, 44-25, would also plague them in the comeback attempt.
Both teams were sent to the line a combined 45 times with CofC going 13-of-18 from the charity stripe and UCF 13-of-27. The Knights converted 30 of their points on 13 miscues by the Cougars.
Sophomore Trent Wiedeman (Suwanee, Ga.) was one of three CofC players in double figures with a season-high 19 points followed by junior Andrew Lawrence (London, England) with 14 and sophomore Jordan Scott (Darlington, S.C.) with 10.
CofC had been off to a 3-0 start for the first time since the 2002-03 season with wins over Holy Cross and 2011 NCAA Tournament participants Morehead State and Clemson prior to the tournament.
The Cougars now await the loser of either defending national champion Connecticut or UNC Asheville tomorrow at 7 p.m. (ET). The game will be televised live on HDNet.
POSTGAME NOTES
• For the fourth consecutive game, CofC went with the starting five of junior Andrew Lawrence, sophomore Jordan Scott, senior Antwaine Wiggins, sophomore Trent Wiedeman and freshman Adjehi Baru (3-1).
• Despite the loss, the Cougars still lead 12-4 in the all-time series with UCF. It snapped a two-game winning streak in the series and first for the Knights since a three-point win (80-77) in 1994.
• CofC did not lead at halftime for the first time this season (3-1).
• Trent Wiedeman led all CofC scorers with a season-high 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor and 5-of-6 makes from the charity tripe. It marked his third double-figure game of the season.
• The Cougars were called for a season-high 21 fouls with three players with four fouls each in Baru, Lawrence and freshman Anthony Stitt.
• CofC will enjoy a Thanksgiving Dinner with fans and boosters who traveled on the Bahamas trip later tonight at the Atlantis Resort.
POSTGAME QUOTES
College of Charleston Head Coach Bobby Cremins
On the game ...
"It was a tough game and we hung in there. We got into a lot of foul trouble early on. We played a lot of zone, because of our foul trouble. In the second half, I thought there was an opportunity for us. The door was open. We went up seven and then they hit a three. During that stretch right there, I thought we really had a chance. They are a very physical basketball team. Their big guys can shoot. The big kid (Keith Clanton) can shoot it. He had 28 (points). He is a very fine basketball player. We learned a lot about ourselves. Antwaine Wiggins has been playing so well for us and he had a tough game and is one of our key players. I hated to see him struggle like that. I thought for a while, we played well, but you have to give Central Florida a lot of credit. They took control of the game, especially on the boards."
College of Charleston Sophomore Forward Trent Wiedeman
On the rebound war with UCF ...
"They had a really good front court that killed us on the rebounds. That's what hurt us - a lot of second-chance points. Adjehi Baru was in foul trouble early and they outrebounded us. As for our next game, we will focus on rebounding. We have to move on from this loss, because we can still win two more games."
