Cougars withstand Samford's steady 3-point barrage

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College of Charleston over Samford

The CofC Cougars defeated Samford Bulldogs 81-74 at the Carolina First Arena Monday night.

Samford's patient, Princeton-style spread offense with its backdoor cuts and 3-pointers is enough to drive opponents crazy.

But not the College of Charleston. Not Monday night.

The Cougars didn't expertly defend Samford, but Charleston's offense rendered it irrelevant in an 81-74 Southern Conference victory in front of a Carolina First Arena crowd of 3,563.

"They're a tough team to defend," said Charleston coach Bobby Cremins. "They drive you crazy. Samford is going to be a nightmare for a lot of teams in this conference. I feel like I've been at the dentist for two hours."

Samford (6-8, 1-4 SoCon) made 50 percent of its shots, including 10 of 24 from 3-point range, an above-average night for the Bulldogs.

But it wasn't enough.

Charleston (12-3, 4-1) shot 53.6 percent from the field, including 12 of 21 from 3-point range, and the Cougars were too athletic and too versatile for the Bulldogs to defend.

Cougars guard Andrew Goudelock led the Cougars with 19 points, while Antwaine Wiggins scored 17 and Dustin Scott 16. Tony White Jr. also finished in double figures with 14 points.

"We had balanced scoring again," said Goudelock, referencing the fact that Charleston placed six players in double figures in Saturday's victory over Georgia Southern. "You can't key on one guy with us because somebody is going to score. I guess sooner or later, teams are going to figure that out.

Charleston led by as many as 16 points in the second half, including 74-58 with 3:43 to play, but Samford hung in there.

Scoring with 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions allowed the Bulldogs to cut the lad to 79-72 with 39.2 seconds to play, but it was too little, too late.

"We're going to have to start making stops," Goudelock said. "The ball is not always going to go in. Luckily, we came out with the win."

Charleston led 42-34 at halftime thanks to 56.2 percent shooting from the field, including 7-of-9 on 3-pointers.

Samford made 5-of-10 in the first half.

"We weren't able to stop them every time," White said. "The Princeton offense gives us trouble. We're going to have to get used to this, but I thought we adjusted pretty well as the game went on."

Samford was able to more or less neutralize Charleston's inside game.

Even though Scott finished with 16, Jermaine Johnson and Jeremy Simmons — Charleston's two other post players — finished with a combined five points on 2-for-8 shooting from the field.

"They're hard to guard, and it's hard to get the ball inside on them," Cremins said. "I think we learned a lot tonight. I know I did."