SoCon Men’s Basketball Recaps for January 14, 2008

COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 69, THE CITADEL 46

CHARLESTON, S.C. ? The Citadel struggled from the floor early in the game and the College of Charleston took full advantage as the Cougars jumped out to an early 23 point lead that would propel them to a, 69-46, victory over the Bulldogs in Southern Conference action Monday night in McAlister Field House.

Tyrell McDowell led the Bulldogs with 14 points and six rebounds. Andrew Goudelock led the Cougars with 13 points followed closely by Jermaine Johnson who picked up his eighth double-double on the night scoring 12 points and collecting 10 rebounds. With the victory, the Cougars improve to 8-8 (3-3 SoCon) while the Bulldogs slip to 5-11 (0-7).

Marcus Hammond knocked down a jumper with 44 seconds remaining in the first-half to give the Cougars a 32-9 lead over the Bulldogs going into the half.

Coming out of halftime, The Citadel showed some fight as Cameron Wells set up Tyrell McDowell for a three-point basket. Tony White, Jr. hit a three-pointer that gave the Cougars a 25 point lead, before Cameron Wells converted a layup to seal a 13-5 rally that pulled the Dogs within 17 points of the Cougars with 10 minutes left in the game.  

The Cougars enjoyed their largest lead of the game at 61-35 when White connected on a three-pointer with 4:30 remaining.

The Bulldogs struggled in the first-half shooting only 14.8 percent to the Cougars’ 56.0 percent. The Dogs would increase their percentage to 42.4 percent in the second-half, but so would the Cougars hitting 62.5 percent from the field.

“We were just flat and didn’t execute well tonight,” said Citadel coach Ed Conroy. “I feel for the fans, we had a great crowd tonight and needed a better effort. Maybe emotionally some of our guys were too excited about tonight’s game, but we still didn’t have the energy that we need. Now we have to go and get some of our confidence back.”