CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Beating a team three times in a season is no small feat, but the College of Charleston men's basketball team pulled off the trifecta with a 63-58 come-from-behind victory over Furman in the semifinals of the 2011 Southern Conference Tournament held Sunday night at McKenzie Arena.

Senior All-America candidate Andrew Goudelock (Stone Mountain, Ga.) scored a tournament career-high 31 points to lead the Cougars (24-9) to their fifth all-time appearance in the finals and third overall under fifth-year head coach Bobby Cremins.

The Paladins (22-10) held the Cougars without a field goal for almost eight minutes in one stretch in the first half and limited Goudelock to 4-of-13 shooting to take a 29-25 lead at halftime.

Furman built an 11-point advantage in the second half, but CofC responded with an 18-3 run to take a 55-51 lead on a Goudelock tip-in with 5:57 remaining in regulation. The Paladins would go more than seven minutes with only three free throws and got within in three, 59-56, on two free throws by Darryl Evans, but could not get closer in the final minute.

Freshman Trent Wiedeman (Suwanee, Ga.) turned in his second consecutive double-double performance in SoCon Tournament play with 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, while junior Antwaine Wiggins (Greeneville, Tenn.) added 10.

The Cougars shot a season-low 33.3 percent (18-of-54) from the floor which marked the first time on four occasions this season to win the game when shooting in the 30s.

CofC will face defending champion Wofford (20-12) in tomorrow's championship game to be televised nationally on ESPN2 at 9 p.m. (ET). Both teams tied each other for the South Division regular-season title with 14-4 records, but the Cougars won the top divisional seed by virtue of sweeping the Terriers in the home-and-home series this season. Wofford advanced with an 86-72 win over No. 1 North Division seed Western Carolina in the first semifinal game of the night.

POSTGAME NOTES

• For the ninth time this season, CofC used the starting lineup of senior Donavan Monroe, senior Andrew Goudelock, junior Antwaine Wiggins, sophomore Willis Hall and freshman Trent Wiedeman (7-2).
• The Cougars improved to 24-3 in the all-time series with Furman since joining the Southern Conference in 1999, while the Paladins still own a 40-36 advantage overall. They have now won the last eight consecutive meetings between the two South Division rivals.
• The victory marked only the second time in which CofC has defeated Furman three times in a SoCon season next to two regular-season wins and a quarterfinal victory in 1999 en route to the program's fourth and last all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
• The Cougars will make their fifth all-time appearance in the SoCon championship game (1-4) and first since 2009.
• CofC is now 19-11 in SoCon Tournament play since its inaugural campaign in 1998-99 and has now reached the finals three times in the Bobby Cremins Era.
• Andrew Goudelock scored a tournament career-high 31 points versus Furman to surpass his previous best of 27 points against Chattanooga in the 2010 SoCon Tournament quarterfinals in Charlotte, N.C. It marked Goudelock's sixth career 30-point game and he has now tabulated 2,463 career points to date which ranks fifth all-time in the SoCon record books.
• Trent Wiedeman registered his fourth career double-double with 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. It also marked the second time this season in which he has produced back-to-back double-double performances. He had a career-high 20 points and 12 rebounds versus Elon in the quarterfinals on March 5. Wiedeman previously put up 14 points and 11 rebounds versus Georgia Southern on Dec. 4 and 11 points and 11 rebounds against East Tennessee State on Dec. 7.
• CofC is now 4-5 this season when trailing at halftime with wins against Coastal Carolina on Nov. 16, Wofford at home on Feb. 3, at Elon on Feb. 9 and versus Furman in the SoCon Tournament Semifinals on March 6.
• The Cougars turned in their third-lowest first-half production with 25 first-half points versus Furman in the SoCon Semifinals behind a season-low 16 first-half points at Morehead State on Jan. 2 and 24 first-half points at Western Carolina on Feb. 26.
• The Cougars are now an unbeaten 5-0 when wearing their gold uniforms this season with wins over Toledo, Appalachian State, Furman (twice) and Vermont.

POSTGAME QUOTES

College of Charleston Head Coach Bobby Cremins

On the team's second-half comeback ...

"We were in serious trouble. It looked like it was almost over - like our spirit was about to break. We hung in there and stayed together. Anytime you have Drew Goudelock on the court, you have a chance."

On playing defense ...

"We were in trouble. They were driving and kicking on us. We weren't contesting shots and closing out properly. We were closing out about half and then all of a sudden they started to pick it up. Drew (Goudelock) started to charge out there and we started to contest their shots which made a big difference. They are a very good shooting team. It was a physical game and we just hung in there. It's hard to figure these things out. We know with Drew in the game, we always have a chance. It was a heck of a ballgame - a really hard-fought game and I'm proud of our guys."

College of Charleston Freshman Forward Trent Wiedeman

On the team's mindset and composure in the second half ...

"No, we were pretty calm. Coach Cremins might not have been calm, but we were trying to stay calm. The coaches just told us to just keep chipping away at the lead, don't try to get it all at once by jacking up threes. So, that's what we did, we tried to chip away at the lead in the second half."