College of Charleston stops Boston College, 71-67

College of Charleston guard Andrew Lawrence missed Friday’s game against Auburn due to a stomach virus that is going around the downtown campus.

But it was the Boston College Eagles who got sick to their collective stomachs on Sunday afternoon.

Lawrence scored a game-high 22 points and Anthony Stitt added 11 to lead the College of Charleston past Boston College, 71-67, in the final day of the Charleston Classic at TD Arena.

The Cougars (2-2) finished the tournament 1-2 and as they prepare to face nationally-ranked Baylor on Saturday in Waco, Texas.

The Cougars were forced to play without forward Trent Wiedeman, who suffered a sprained right ankle against Auburn. Wiedeman, who is out indefinitely, was in a walking boot on Sunday and is not expected to play against Baylor.

Lawrence was so ill on Friday that he was unable to watch the game from the Cougars’ locker room. Instead, he turned off the lights and fell asleep in the team’s training room while the Cougars struggled to a 55-51 loss to the Tigers.

“It was tough because I wanted to be out there so badly, but there was no way I could have played,” Lawrence said. “I didn’t even know we’d lost until they came into the training room after the game was over. I’m pretty weak right now. They have me on a lot of drugs right now. I’m going to go back to my room and take a nap.”

A well deserved rest for the senior guard.

“Andrew was great. He really gutted out a great performance for us,” said College of Charleston coach Doug Wojcik. “He’s such a smart player, knows how to get open and create space for himself. Obviously, we missed him on Friday.”

The victory marked the first win over a team from a BCS conference during the Wojcik era.

“It was kind of a relief for the guys,” Wojcik said. “We celebrated with a little bit of mosh pit in the locker room. The fans around here have come to expect wins like that against BCS teams, so I’m happy for the kids.”

It wasn’t easy, especially in the first half as Boston College was red hot from beyond the 3-point line, connecting on 7 of 14 early in the game. The Eagles jumped out to an early lead and grabbed a 29-22 advantage on back-to-back 3-pointers from Patrick Heckmann, who led Boston College with 18 points.

“They shot the ball extremely well from three in the first half,” Wojcik said. “We made a couple of adjustments in the second half.”

The Cougars were more aggressive defensively in their man-to-man defense. The pressure slowly wore the Eagles down as they made just 3 of 15 from 3-point range in the second half.

“We made them run a little more in the second half and I think they started to lose their legs,” Wojcik said.

Lawrence also found his scoring touch in the second half, scoring Charleston’s first eight points and giving the Cougars a 37-36 lead with a layup with 17:39 left in regulation.

The Eagles responded with a 4-0 run to take a 40-37 advantage with 16:17 left on Dennis Clifford’s layup.

But the College of Charleston answered with an 8-2 run capped off by a jump hook by Adjehi Baru with 10:53 left to give the Cougars the lead, 48-42, for good.

The Cougars helped themselves at the free throw line late in game with Lawrence making six of eight over the final minute of the game.

“It was nice to see us make some big free throws,” Wojcik said.

Anthony Thomas finished with 10 points for the Cougars and Willis Hall, filling in for Wiedeman had eight points and 11 rebounds.