Cougars downed by UNCG; Stitt injures hand

  • Tommy Braswell
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  • Posted: Friday, January 13, 2012 12:01 a.m.
    UPDATED: Friday, March 23, 2012 7:18 p.m.
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The College of Charleston lost more than a game Thursday night. The Cougars may have lost freshman guard Anthony Stitt for the remainder of the season.

Stitt, a 6-1 freshman who had just worked his way into the starting lineup, injured his left hand early in the first half of Thursday’s 73-66 loss to struggling UNC Greensboro before a crowd of 4,137 at TD Arena.

College of Charleston coach Bobby Cremins said Stitt was likely out for the year, but the Cougars’ training staff later said Stitt would be reevaluated in four to six weeks. Cremins said a basketball apparently jammed into Stitt’s hand.

The Spartans, meanwhile, snapped an 11-game losing streak dating back to late November which eventually cost coach Mike Dement his job. Interim coach Wes Miller won his first game as UNCG improved to 3-14 and

1-4 in the Southern Conference.

Charleston, a 16-point favorite, fell to 11-5 and 3-2 in the league, and lost two straight home games for the first time since the 2007-08 season.

“The injury did not cost us the game. We were still in a position to win,” Cremins said. “We knew they were a dangerous team coming in. We knew they could shoot. We played well enough to win. They made more shots.”

Stitt’s injury was evident with the rotations the Cougars played. Cremins said he hoped to play junior guard Andrew Lawrence only 20 minutes. But Lawrence, who injured his thigh in practice earlier in the week, played 37. He scored 14 points, grabbed seven rebounds and had five steals.

Sophomore Nori Johnson, who will move into the lineup Saturday in place of Stitt when the Cougars host Elon, played 28 minutes. And Jordan Scott, who was replaced by Stitt in the lineup, played 13.

Charleston quickly jumped to a 10-point lead, but the Cougars could not shake UNCG. The Spartans kept the game within reach and took a 20-18 lead. Charleston moved back in front but a sloppy finish in which the Cougars turned the ball over and gave up a layup and a foul allowed UNCG to take a 36-35 halftime lead.

The Cougars led by as many as six points on several occasions in the second half, but UNCG came back to tie the score at 63. Then the Cougars went cold as UNCG finished the game with 10-3 burst.

Sophomore Trent Wiedeman, who led Charleston with 15 points and nine rebounds, said the loss was extremely disappointing as the Cougars had set a goal of going undefeated the remainder of the season.

“We missed (Stitt), but we can’t make excuses,” Wiedeman said. “We still should have won. I don’t think we finished well. They were 2-14 coming in, but they played tough.”

A satellite uplink failure resulted in Thursday’s game not being available on WMMP or ESPN3, according to the College of Charleston. Saturday’s game against Elon (7 p.m.) is scheduled to be broadcast by WMMP and ESPN3.