Second Half Shooting Sends Charleston to Win over Eagles
2/19/2009 5:18:00 AM | Men's Basketball
STATESBORO, Ga. ? Tyler Troupe (Gallatin, TN/Iowa Western CC) recorded his third double-double this year but the College of Charleston blistered the nets shooting 67.9 percent in the second half, handing Georgia Southern an 81-68 loss Thursday night (Feb. 19). The Eagles dropped their eighth straight, 7-18 overall and 5-12 in the Southern Conference.
Both teams went back and forth during the first half as the lead changed hands 10 times and three times the score was tied.
Down one, Ben Drayton III (St. Marys/Camden County) hit a 3-pointer. The Cougars responded with a ?3' of their own, but Drayton hit a jumper to give the Eagles a 27-26 lead with 2:36 remaining. Jeremy Simmons hit two free throws and Antwaine Wiggins hit a field goal which would eventually give Charleston a one-point halftime lead, 30-29.
“I thought we followed our game plan the first half. We had to tempo the game and play slow which is unlike us, but with the situation we were dealt with we didn't really have a choice. It was 30-29 where we needed it to be at halftime and I thought we did a nice job defensively and were pretty patient on offense,” said head coach Jeff Price.
The Eagles shot 40.6 percent in the first half compared to Charleston's 34.5, but the Cougars held a halftime edge thanks to an 8-for-11 effort at the free throw line while the Eagles missed both attempts. Both teams had identical rebounding numbers and both took good care of the basketball, three turnovers by CofC and five for Georgia Southern.
Drayton scored 10 at halftime and Troupe had seven points and seven rebounds.
Charleston eventually took a six point lead when Andrew Goudelock hit a 3-pointer with 14:43 remaining. The Eagles responded to tie the game when Colby Wohlleb (Boca Raton, FL/Boca Raton) hit a jumper, Antonio Hanson (Fort Worth, TX/Independence CC) drained a 3-pointer and Kenith Ward (Warner Robins/Northside) hit the second of two free throws.
Gouldelock hit another jumper but Wohlleb rimmed in a 3-pointer for a 47-46 lead with 11:40 left. Donavan Monrow hit back-to-back 3-pointers and the Cougars used that to start a 15-2 run to pull away for the win. Charleston started the half hitting 11 of its first 15 field goal attempts, finishing 67.9 percent for the half and 50.9 percent for the game (29-57).
“The second half got away from us. If there's any question about the last 10 minutes of the game we were extremely fatigued. When you get tired you don't defend as well and shots don't look as good,” stated Price. “We're playing hard. I told the team we can't feel sorry for ourselves. We have to get angry and we have to take it out on the next team, and we're going to try to do that on Saturday. I've said this a million times nobody's going to feel sorry for us. We've had a lot of success in this league, people are going to beat us while we're down right now, and we've got to continue to fight.
“I think our effort is good, I think our team's mindset is good. We're obviously tired of losing and we've got to keep fighting until we get a win. I thought we played hard and played together. I just thought we got tired and it was very evident in the second half. But we've got to learn how to play when we get tired because of our depth and make better decisions,” said Price.
Troupe tallied 17 points and 11 rebounds with three assists and no turnovers in 31 minutes of play. It was his second double-double in the last five games.
Drayton scored in double-figures for the seventh straight game playing nearly all 40 minutes. The true-freshman guard finished with 16 points and blocked a shot. Hanson also scored in double-figures with 11 points, nine coming from beyond the arc.
The Eagles shot 42.4 percent for the game, but only made 5-of-11 free throws. For the third straight game Georgia Southern made equal or more 3-pointers (7-of-21) than free throws.
Goudelock scored a game-high 18 points while Monroe added 16 points off the bench. Charleston held a 37-35 edge overall in rebounds but Georgia Southern owned the offensive end, 17-12. Neither Charleston turned the ball over nine times to the Eagles' 10.
The Eagles remain at home on Saturday night (Feb. 21), playing host to Jacksonville State as part of the ESPN BracketBuster event. Tipoff against the Gamecocks is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
