POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE VIDEO

CHARLESTON, S.C. - College of Charleston could not overcome a poor shooting first half as Wofford pulled out a 68-59 victory on Saturday afternoon at TD Arena.

The Cougars (12-9, 4-6) lost their fourth-straight game in Southern Conference play, while the Terriers (14-8, 7-3) claimed their first-ever series sweep since both teams joined the league in 1998-99. The game was the first contest for CofC's new interim head coach Mark Byington, who assumed the reins of the program after legendary head coach Bobby Cremins took a medical leave of absence on Jan. 27.

Three different players scored in double figures led by sophomore big man Trent Wiedeman's (Suwanee, Ga.) game-high tying 18 points and 10 rebounds. It marked his sixth double-double of the season and 10th of his career. Senior Antwaine Wiggins (Greeneville, Tenn.) added 14, while sophomore Nori Johnson (Greer, S.C.) finished with 13 points, just one short of his career high.

Junior point guard Andrew Lawrence (London, England) scored six points and dished out eight assists, while only committing one turnover.

Despite shooting just 20.7 percent from the floor in the first half of play, CofC improved its shooting efficiency to 55.2 percent in the second stanza, while doubling the team's point output from 19 to 40 points.

The Terriers led the Cougars in rebounding, 34-29, although CofC held an advantage in offensive boards, 10-8. The teams were nearly even in points in the paint (28-26) and points off turnovers (12-10).

Wofford was led by Brad Loesing's 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including eight assists. Karl Cochran scored 15 points and brought down seven rebounds, while Kevin Giltner put in 13 points.

The Terriers jumped out to a 12-point lead in the first half after a jumper from Cochran at the 7:15 minute mark. Wiggins scored seven of the team's last nine points of the half, but Wofford still held a 28-19 lead at intermission.

Three-pointers from Johnson, redshirt junior Matt Sundberg (Kennesaw, Ga.) and Lawrence were all answered by the Terriers, as Wofford built another 12-point lead at the 7:43 minute mark, after Loesing nailed a three-pointer. Consecutive baskets from Wiggins drew the margin to just 51-46 with 4:41 remaining in regulation and the crowd of 4,151 rose to its feet in support.

A three-pointer from Giltner and traditional three-point play from Loesing kept Wofford ahead and the Cougars were never able to make it a one-possession game in the final minutes.

CofC will hit the road for a three-game road stretch with a short one-day turnaround at Samford on Monday, Jan. 30 at 8 p.m. (ET) in Birmingham, Ala. The game will not be televised, but will be available via pay-per-view all-access live video streaming at www.SamfordSports.com.

POSTGAME NOTES

• For the second time this season, CofC used the starting lineup of junior Andrew Lawrence, sophomore Nori Johnson, senior Antwaine Wiggins, redshirt junior Matt Sundberg and sophomore Trent Wiedeman (0-2).

• With the loss, Wofford improves to 76-53 in the all-time series with the Cougars. It marked the first time in both team's Southern Conference history for the Terriers to claim the series sweep and first win on CofC's home court since the 2002-03 campaign. The Cougars had previously won nine-straight at home against their South Division rivals.

• The contest marked the first time after 193 consecutive games in which CofC head coach Bobby Cremins did not coach on the sidelines for the Cougars. It marked the coaching debut for interim head coach Mark Byington, who was appointed as acting head coach, after Cremins took a medical leave of absence indefinitely on Jan. 27. Byington, 35, is currently the third-youngest head coach in the SoCon.

• Matt Sundberg made his second career start as freshman Adjehi Baru missed his second game of the year recovering from a sprained ankle injury that also kept him out of the Georgia Southern game on Feb. 23.

• Trent Wiedeman recorded his 10th career double-double and sixth of the season with a game-high tying 18 points and 10 rebounds against Wofford. He currently ranks second-best in the league in double-doubles.

• Nori Johnson turned in the second-highest scoring game of his career with 13 points including a career-high tying three three-pointers in 32 minutes of action in his fifth career start.

• The Wofford defense held CofC to a season-low 19 first-half points this season on 20.7 percent (6-of-29) shooting from the floor. However, the Cougars shot an improved 55.2 percent (16-of-29) from the field and 46.2 percent (6-of-13) from beyond the arc in the second half.

• CofC made a season-low eight turnovers in the contest as Andrew Lawrence led the way with eight assists with only one turnover in 38 minutes of play at the point.

• The Cougars have now lost four in a row for the first time since the 2007-08 season when they dropped four-straight games to Furman, UNCG, Davidson and Wofford from Jan. 19-28, 2008.

POSTGAME QUOTES

College of Charleston Interim Head Coach Mark Byington

On the game ...

"First off, I would like to make a statement about how proud I was of how hard our guys played and competed today. They were jumping for loose balls, flying around the court and sacrificing their bodies. I told them if they keep playing like that, good things are going to happen to them. The second thought that comes to mind was how great our fans were tonight. I could feel their support and I know our team could feel their support. They were trying hard to pull us over the hump. Our guys wanted to do well for them. I think the pressure was building in the first half - not being able to make shots. Our fans really came out strong tonight and I really appreciate their support."

On analyzing his first game as a coach and any mistakes he may have made ...

"I'm going to sleep well tonight, because we have high-character guys on this team. We have guys who will compete and play hard. We will bounce back."

College of Charleston Senior Forward Antwaine Wiggins

On playing the game after learning Coach Cremins took a medical leave of absence ...

"It was tough, especially after what happened yesterday and what's been happening in our previous games. It felt good to get back out on the court and just got out and play the game we love. We didn't come out with the win, but we were proud of how hard we worked and how hard we played. All we can do is keep working on getting better. Everything happens for a reason though. I believe Coach B (Byington) will turn this thing around. We are going to work hard for him. If we work hard, we will have good results in the end."

College of Charleston Sophomore Forward Trent Wiedeman

On the game ...

"It was a really emotional game for us, considering what happened over the last couple of days. It was really unfortunate to come out on the losing end of this one. It's been a bit of a rivalry over the last couple of years. I give a lot of credit to Wofford. They are a really good team and are really well coached. Coach (Mike) Young does a great job of running their offense which is really hard to guard. I really want to thank all of the fans who came out to support us, after what's been going on with Coach Cremins (medical leave of absence) and in our last couple of games. It was good to see all of their support today."