'Boom Boom Boom': Streaking Cougars blitz Vermont with 25-0 run

The College of Charleston appears to have discovered some offensive magic to go along with its defensive pressure during its current six-game winning streak.

The Cougars (21-7) went on a 25-0 first-half blitz Saturday while shutting down Vermont (22-6) for more than six minutes, cruising to an 85-70 win over the Catamounts before a crowd of 4,874 at Carolina First Arena.

Now, the Cougars are hoping to carry that momentum into a big Southern Conference contest Monday against Samford. A win over Samford would ensure the Cougars (13-2 in the league) an automatic invitation to play in the NIT if they don't win the Southern Conference tournament and advance to the 68-team NCAA tournament. Samford (12-16, 4-12) is coming off a 70-63 loss to Furman.

Charleston coach Bobby Cremins said the Cougars' early burst was the difference.

"Vermont is better than that," Cremins said of the America East Conference regular season champion. "They couldn't get into their style of game. They are a disciplined, fundamental team. They couldn't get their game going the way they wanted. We started throwing up some bombs, making them, boom, boom, boom."

The teams were matching baskets early on, but the Cougars broke away from a 14-11 lead when sophomore guard Andrew Lawrence ignited the 25-0 run with a 3-point goal with 14:18 left in the first half. Andrew Goudelock hit three 3-pointers and Willis Hall had back-to-back dunks during the onslaught. Charleston's biggest first-half lead was 28 points, a margin it held until halftime when the Cougars left the court up 52-24.

Vermont scored a 3-pointer to open the second half, but Charleston responded with Goudelock and Donavan Monroe hitting back-to-back 3s for a 58-27 lead. The Catamounts were able to go on a 7-0 run of their own and eventually cut the lead to the final 15-point margin late in the game.

Goudelock had 24 points (17 in the first half) and seven assists. Hall set his career high for the second straight game, scoring 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting. Hall, who also had 17 in the first half, hit 8 of 9 field goals and scored 17 points in a win over UNC Greensboro last Saturday, and was 8 for 8 in scoring 21 points Thursday against The Citadel. Monroe hit 8 of 9 field goal attempts and was perfect from 3-point distance in scoring 20 points.

Vermont was led by 6-8 senior Evan Fjeld, who had 17 points and nine rebounds. Joey Accaoui added 16 points and Brendan Bald 15.

Goudelock, Monroe and forward Antwaine Wiggins talked about their upcoming opponent Friday night.

"We heard (Vermont was favored by) five points. We were kind of offended. We wanted to strap up and set the tone for the first few minutes, not play around," Goudelock said.

"We came out really focused. We didn't know much about Vermont, but we heard they were a really good team. We wanted to do the things we could control: defense and rebounding. We didn't have a lot of turnovers (eight) and had a lot of assists (21)."

Cremins said it was an exciting first half with Goudelock igniting his teammates and bringing the partisan crowd into the game.

"That eight-minute stretch was fantastic," Cremins said. "We were fortunate we had a home game. Last year (in ESPN BracketBusters), we had to go to George Mason and that was tough."

Monday's game against Samford is also Senior Night with the school recognizing Goudelock, Monroe, forward Jeremy Simmons, who has missed the last five games because of a blood clot, forward Garrett Campbell and guard Jordan Turok in pregame ceremonies. The seniors also will have an opportunity following the game to speak to the Cougars fans.