The College of Charleston men’s basketball team continued its four-game winning streak on Wednesday night as they beat the Charleston Southern Buccaneers 87-74 in front of 3,067 at the Carolina First Arena.
With the win, Charleston improved to 5-3 overall and CSU fell to 4-5.
Charleston’s defense proved vital as they forced 18 turnovers and converted those turnovers into 33 points with 18 coming on fast-breaks.
Tony White Jr. came off two back-to-back games in which he went a combined 0-11 from the field to score 18 points against the Buccaneers. He shot three consecutive 3-pointers in the first half.
“I was in a bad slump. I’ve never been in one before. It was totally new,” White said. “The coaches were staying with me, my teammates were supporting me, and my mom even called. I just came to the gym, put up some extra shots and kept shooting.”
Charleston led at the half by 20 points thanks to a late run featuring steals, dunks, open shots and more.
“The game turned that last eight minutes of the first half. We put on a show. That was incredible,” Charleston coach Bobby Cremins said. “We had steals, dunks, jumpers. I wish I could bottle that eight or nine minutes and keep it.”
Donavan Monroe contributed to this “incredible” first half final with four of his career-high five steals. Monroe finished with 18 points and six assists for the Cougars.
Jeremy Simmons was right behind him with his third double-double in four games. Simmons scored 17 points and had a career-high 15 rebounds.
After watching the end of the first half, Cremins didn’t even want to take a break for halftime.
“I wish there wasn’t a break. I wish we could have kept that thing going,” Cremins said. “I told them [at the half] that was fun to watch. We did so many things well.”
Charleston Southern didn’t let the Cougars take it all away completely. The Buccaneers came storming back in the second half and cut the lead to as few as 12 points, but it was too little too late.
“I want to compliment the courage and character that we showed in the second half,” CSU coach Barclay Radebaugh said. “Our team could have folded the tent, and they didn’t do that and that’s a really positive sign. I’m really pleased with that.”
Jamarco Warren led the Bucs with 19 points, including a near-perfect 7 of 8 from the free throw line.
In the end, Charleston Southern’s 15 points by Kelvin Martin and 13 points by Jeremy Sexton weren’t enough to beat a team that Radebaugh called the best team the Bucs have played all season.
“I thought our team played really well for 35 minutes and competed with the best team we’ve played,” Radebaugh said. “They put some defensive pressure on us that we haven’t seen, but it’s a great learning experience for us.”
Freshman Andrew Lawrence finished the game with 13 points and Andrew Goudelock scored 11.
College of Charleston will travel Clemson on Saturday before spending Christmas in the Hawaiian Islands for the 2009 Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu.

<a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php?option=com_mobile&task=viewaltcast&altcast_code=07c94fa2b9" >Men's Basketball v. Charleston Southern Buccaneers</a>