College of Charleston
UMass
Stitt Provides Spark Off Bench To Defeat UMass, 85-61
11/27/2011 3:53:00 AM | Men's Basketball
PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas - Freshman Anthony Stitt (Charlotte, N.C.) came off the bench and ignited the offense as the College of Charleston men's basketball team defeated a tough, defensive-minded UMass squad, 85-61, in the fifth-place consolation game of the inaugural Battle 4 Atlantis tournament held Saturday night at the Atlantis Resort's Imperial Arena.
Stitt, who has played in only six total games for the Cougars (5-1), knocked down a career-high 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the floor and 5-of-8 shooting from downtown. He was one of three players in double figures as CofC went 2-1 in tournament play with wins over UNC Asheville and UMass (5-2).
Senior Antwaine Wiggins (Greeneville, Tenn.) registered his second consecutive 20-point outing matching Stitt's 23 on 8-of-14 shooting with three long-distance treys, while redshirt junior Matt Sundberg (Kennesaw, Ga.) added 12 points and five rebounds off the bench.
Field-goal shooting was the difference in the game. The Cougars shot 50.9 percent (29-of-57) from the field making 14-of-25 attempts in the second half of play. They also made 12-of-23 from three-point range.
UMass, who had held opponents to just 38.8 percent shooting from the floor and 26.3 percent from beyond the arc prior to the contest, had its role reversed and shot only 34.7 percent (25-of-72) against the Cougars. The Minutemen were paced by 12 points from reserve Cady Lalanne.
The Cougars led 38-34 at halftime and broke the game open with a 20-4 run in the second half. A layup by Stitt capped the run and gave CofC a 68-47 lead with 6:50 remaining in regulation.
CofC will begin Southern Conference play this coming week playing host to crosstown rival The Citadel on Thursday, Dec. 1 at 8 p.m. (ET) at TD Arena. The game will be carried nationally on ESPN3 and locally on MyTV Charleston.
POSTGAME NOTES
• For the sixth-consecutive game, CofC used the starting five of junior Andrew Lawrence, sophomore Jordan Scott, senior Antwaine Wiggins, sophomore Trent Wiedeman and freshman Adjehi Baru (5-1).
• With the victory, the Cougars take a one-game lead in the all-time series with UMass (2-1). Both teams had not met since a 77-75 CofC victory at the North Charleston Coliseum on Dec. 1, 1998.
• Freshman Anthony Stitt turned in a career-high 23 points in only his sixth game as a Cougar. He went 9-of-14 from the field and 5-of-8 from beyond the arc. Stitt also dished out a career-best eight assists with three steals in 30 minutes of play versus the Minutemen.
• CofC drained a season-high 12 three-pointers against UMass which eclipsed its previous best of 10 versus Morehead State on Nov. 15. Stitt led the way with five, while Sundberg and Wiggins had three each.
• The Cougars turned in their highest-scoring production of the season with 85 points against the Minutemen. They also shot 50 percent from the floor (50.9) for the third time this year next to the Morehead State (51.9) and Clemson (52.6) games.
• Antwaine Wiggins turned in back-to-back 20-point games with 23 against UMass. It marked his fifth 20-point outing of his career and third this season.
• Redshirt junior Matt Sundberg contributed 12 points off the bench, his highest scoring production since the 2009-10 season. He redshirted in 2010-11.
POSTGAME QUOTES
College of Charleston Head Coach Bobby Cremins
On the game ...
"Boy, we played well. Our players did such a great job. This little guy to my right (Anthony Stitt), he came off the bench and flat-out ignited us. I thought when I recruited him, he would back up Andrew Lawrence for two years. In preseason, we just noticed how much heart he had. He comes from a good line of family. His cousin played at Clemson. We needed his ball handling against the relentless pressure of UMass. We went to the two point-guard system and it was fun to watch. It was great to see Matt Sundberg get in there. He can shoot the basketball and he made some big shots for us. Antwaine (Wiggins) gave us a solid game. Our bigs played decent, not great. Our perimeter, (Andrew) Lawrence and Stitt were something else. They were really fun to watch. That has to be one of the best games we've ever played."
On the team's second-half run ...
"My (coaching) staff recommended we try some zone. We had trouble guarding them. The zone obviously worked for UMass. We just got hot. We got patient and we got smart. It was just fun to watch. We worked on containing (UMass leading scorer) Chaz Williams. That was one of the keys to the game. He is so quick and can pick you apart. We knew going into this game turnovers would be key. It got a little sloppy and we knew points off of their pressure would be great."
College of Charleston Freshman Guard Anthony Stitt
On his career-best performance in only his sixth game as a Cougar ...
"I was focused coming into the game. I knew I didn't want to go back into conference play 1-2 (in the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament), because we need a confidence boost (with The Citadel up next). I tried to do anything I could do to help my team win and I was able to do that tonight."
