GREENSBORO, NC – College of Charleston shot 55.4 percent from the floor and had four players in double-figures to off-set a game-high 17 points by Mikko Koivisto and defeat UNC Greensboro, 77-62, in Southern Conference men's basketball action at Fleming Gym on Saturday afternoon.
College of Charleston held UNCG to just two field goals in a nearly 10-minute span in the second half to erase a four-point deficit and get control, 66-51, with 8:02 to play. The Spartans committed nine turnovers during the drought after turning it over just four times in the first half.
Jermaine Johnson and Antwaine Wiggins each had 12 points to lead the Cougars (7-1, 2-0 SoCon). Andrew Goudelock chipped in with 11 points and Jeremy Simmons added 10 points on 5-for-5 shooting
College of Charleston outscored UNCG 41-22 in the second half to erase a four-point UNCG lead at the break. The Spartans made just 6-of-22 from the floor in the final 17 minutes of the contest. UNCG was shooting nearly 50 percent from the floor to that point.
Ben Stywall had his second double-double of the season and the fifth of his career with 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Spartans (1-5, 0-2), who lost their fourth straight.
"We played really hard in the first half," said UNCG coach Mike Dement. "I think maybe the pace was a little too quick for us, though. We lost our concentration I think. We said one of those coaches' clichés at the half that it's a 40-minute game. I thought our point guards played well in the first half. Then they threw the 1-2-2 at us, we panicked on that a little bit. We'd seen a number of times in games and I am not sure why we did that. A couple of flurries and then we were down."
The game was uptempo right from the outset, with a low number of turnovers to begin with. Nearly 12 minutes into the game, each team had just two turnovers and the score was knotted at 22-22. For the half, the teams only combined for seven as UNCG took a 40-36 lead to the locker room. The Cougars hurt their cause with 2-for-13 shooting from behind the three-point arc and 0-for-7 from the charity stripe.
Neither team had a lead of more than six in the opening half, but a 10-2 run by the Spartans late in the half gave them the lead at the break.
A 10-0 run by the Cougars, holding the Spartans scoreless for 4:30, gave the Cougars a six-point advantage with 13 minutes to play, 51-45. Koivisto ended the drought with his fifth trey of the day.
The Spartans committed nine turnovers in the first 10 minutes of the second half as the Cougars opened up the first double-digit lead of the day at 62-51.
The Cougars wound up 0-for-11 from the free throw line and 5-of-22 from three-point range. But the Cougars were 31-for-43 from 2-point range to earn their sixth-straight victory.
UNCG takes the week off to begin exams. The Spartans return to action next Saturday when they visit East Carolina for a 7 pm tip. That game will be shown on tape delay by MASN beginning at 9 pm.
AGATE
COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 77, UNCG 62
COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON (7-1 (2-0 SoCon))
Antwaine Wiggins 6-11 0-1 12; Jermaine Johnson 6-8 0-3 12; Andrew Goudelock 5-12 0-0 11; Jeremy Simmons 5-5 0-0 10; Tony White Jr 3-9 0-0 8; Dustin Scott 4-5 0-3 8; Marcus Hammond 3-7 0-0 7; Donavan Monroe 3-6 0-4 6; Quasim
Pugh 1-1 0-0 3; Garrett Campbell 0-0 0-0 0; Matt Sundberg 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 36-65 0-11 77.
UNCG (1-5 (0-2 SoCon))
Mikko Koivisto 6-11 0-0 17; Ben Stywall 5-7 3-3 13; Elhanan Bone 4-7 4-4 12; Daniel Oliver 3-7 0-0 6; Damian Eargle 2-3 1-2 5; Landon Clement 1-7 2-2 5; Montel Smith 1-5 2-2 4; Deangelo Jackson 0-0 0-0 0; Pete Brown 0-3 0-1 0; Sean Spooner 0-0 0-0 0; Kendall Toney 0-5 0-0 0; Mike Hardiman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-55 12-14 62.
Halftime: UNCG 40-36. 3-point goals--College of Charleston 5-22 (Tony White Jr 2-6; Quasim Pugh 1-1; Marcus Hammond 1-3; Andrew Goudelock 1-5; Donavan Monroe 0-1; Matt Sundberg 0-1; Dustin Scott 0-1; Antwaine Wiggins 0-4), UNCG 6-19 (Mikko Koivisto 5-9; Landon Clement 1-4; Daniel Oliver 0-2; Montel Smith 0-1; Kendall Toney 0-3). Fouled out--College of Charleston-None, UNCG-None. Rebounds--College of Charleston 33 (Dustin Scott 8), UNCG 38 (Ben Stywall 10). Assists--College of Charleston 16 (Tony White Jr 3; Donavan Monroe 3; Dustin Scott 3), UNCG 10 (Ben Stywall 3). Total fouls--College of Charleston 15, UNCG 11. Technical fouls--College of Charleston-None, UNCG-None. A-1385
FREE THROWS: UNCG started its sixth different line-up on Saturday. Last season, UNCG started the same five in 26 of 31 contests... College of Charleston missed its first seven shots from three-point range on Saturday... Nathan Jameson, a two-time Academic All-American and 1,000 point scorer at UNCG in the late 1990's, had his number honored prior to the game... Former Spartans Kevin Oleksiak and Dwayne Johnson were in attendance for Saturday's game... When Pete Brown drew a charge with 14:30 left in the game, he became the eighth different Spartan to take a charge this season.
- UNCG -
