ELON, N.C. - Junior point guard Andrew Lawrence (London, England) scored a career-and game-high 32 points including 16 in a heroic College of Charleston second-half comeback which forced a double-overtime thriller on the road at Elon, 99-98, on Thursday night at Alumni Gym.

The Cougars (13-10, 5-7), playing with a limited bench of nine scholarship players, chipped away at a 23-point second-half deficit one possession at a time and turned up the defense forcing the Phoenix (11-10, 6-4) into 10 turnovers in which they converted into a 7-0 run midway through the second half to get within nine on a layup by sophomore Nori Johnson (Greer, S.C.), 65-56, with 9:03 to go.

Lawrence led the offensive spark cutting the lead down to four connecting on a three from downtown, 71-67, with 4:01 left on the clock. A turnover by Elon's Sebastian Koch was picked up by Lawrence who dished it out to redshirt junior Matt Sundberg (Kennesaw, Ga.) for another three to get the Cougars within four again, 76-72, with 2:08 remaining in regulation.

After missed shots by both teams, Johnson was fouled on a made layup by Drew Spradlin with 33 seconds left, but missed the extra point on the free throw with CofC trailing only by two, 76-74.

Elon's Lucas Troutman, who turned in a team-high 26 points, missed a bonus free throw after being fouled by Johnson giving the Cougars one last possession with time running down. Lawrence later drove into the lane for a layup and tied it up at 76-76 with 22 seconds left. Both teams tried to hit game-winning shots in the final seconds without success sending the game into overtime.

Like the second half, it was a closely-contested battle in the extra periods. Down four in the first OT, senior Antwaine Wiggins (Greeneville, Tenn.) hit a jumper to get the Cougars within two, 82-80, with 57 seconds left. Sophomore Trent Wiedeman (Suwanee, Ga.) sent the game into double overtime on a layup with 23 seconds remaining.

CofC would later take its first lead of the game as Wiedeman sank two free throws, 85-84, to shift the momentum with 3:44 on the clock. Elon built a seven-point advantage with 1:06 remaining on mostly free throws and when the game seemed out of reach, the Cougars managed to counter until the final seconds.

After a made three-pointer by Lawrence with 17 seconds left, 99-98, CofC got a steal from sophomore James Carlton (Winterville, N.C.), who dished it out to Lawrence for the jumper, but it was blocked by Egheosa Edomwonyi as time expired for the Elon victory.

It was a tremendous effort by the Cougars after being held to 34 first-half points and trying to find a way to stop Elon's hot shooting of 67.9 percent from the floor (19-of-28) including seven of their nine three-pointers on the night.

The Cougars will have a quick turnaround as they travel to Appalachian State (9-12, 5-6) for a Saturday, Feb. 4 matchup at the Holmes Center at 2 p.m. (ET) in Boone, N.C. The game will not be televised, but can be heard live on ESPN 910 AM radio in Charleston.

POSTGAME NOTES

• For the fourth time this season, CofC used the starting lineup of junior Andrew Lawrence, sophomore Nori Johnson, senior Antwaine Wiggins, sophomore Trent Wiedeman and freshman Adjehi Baru, who missed two recent games with a sprained ankle (1-3).

• In the loss, Elon snapped a four-game losing skid in the all-time series against College of Charleston. It was the Phoenix's fifth all-time win in the series dating back to its last victory over the Cougars in 2009.

• It marked CofC's second double overtime game this season next to a 2OT win over North Division rival Chattanooga (87-85) on Dec. 3.

• Andrew Lawrence registered a career-high 32 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the floor, 5-of-9 from beyond the arc and 7-of-8 from the charity stripe against Elon. It marked the first time a Cougar knocked down 30-or-more points in a single game since former great Andrew Goudelock recorded a school-record 39 against Dayton on March 15, 2011. It was also Lawrence's third-straight game with eight assists (24 total assists with five turnovers against Wofford, Samford and Elon combined).

• Trent Wiedeman turned in his 11th career double-double and seventh of the season with 17 points and a career-high tying 17 rebounds against Elon.

• Sophomore Jordan Scott missed the Elon game while attending his great grandmother's funeral on Thursday. It left CofC with only nine scholarship players of the 10 who traveled.

• Elon shot 67.9 percent in the first half of play and held CofC to 34 first-half points. It was the team's largest halftime deficit (-17) this season to any opponent.

• CofC scored a season-high 98 points against Elon. It was the first time to score 90-or-more points in a ballgame since defeating Dayton (94-84) in the NIT First Round on March 15, 2011 at TD Arena.

• The Cougars trailed by as many as 23 points in the second half. It was one of the biggest second-half comebacks in recent program history behind a 25-point deficit in a 79-76 win over Temple in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Classic on Nov. 16, 2007 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

POSTGAME QUOTES

College of Charleston Interim Head Coach Mark Byington

On the hard-fought game ...

"I looked all of them in the eye (in the locker room) and said, 'if you want to feel bad about not winning this game and some of the mistakes you made, feel bad for about 30 seconds. We are going to move on and watch the great things we did.' We made some great plays tonight. Andrew Lawrence was tremendous. Trent Wiedeman in the second half and in the overtime was tremendous. Our guys gave everything they had. I didn't like the start and I was disappointed in our focus and concentration. But, I was happy they worked themselves out of it. They kept battling and making plays. The overall message to them tonight was that they played hard and played as hard as they could. I was very proud of them."

On the team's comeback ...

"Our guys worked their way through it (second-half deficit). To have two chances to win in regulation and in the second overtime as well as two chances with us with the ball - they were close. Nori (Johnson) had a good look. Andrew Lawrence, with as good and as hot as he was playing, I had to give him the ball. It was frustrating looking at the bench to make subs, with the fouls and the time, to know I was out of scholarship players. All I had left was walk-ons, but everybody that played tonight gave it their best. We just have to move on, move forward and get better. It was a great game. I know (Elon) Coach Matt Matheny agrees. He's a good friend and said it was one of the best he's ever been a part of and I said the same thing."

College of Charleston Junior Point Guard Andrew Lawrence

On the game ...

"It was a tough game. They are a really good team. They came out and shot the ball really well. They were ready to play as soon as they stepped out on the court. We have a lot of pride and have a winning tradition. We never give up. We didn't play hard in the first 15 minutes and played flat. But, we knew we had a chance to win the game - no matter the score and never gave up tonight."