CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Andrew Goudelock scored 24 first-half points and College of Charleston never looked back as the No. 2S Cougars cruised to a 96-69 victory over the No. 3N Chattanooga Mocs in the final quarterfinal contest of the Southern Conference Men's Basketball Championships from Bojangles Coliseum on Saturday night. Tony White, Jr. also netted 22 points to help Charleston (21-10) to its fourth straight semifinals appearance.
The Cougars scored a season-high 56 points in the opening half en route to a season-high 96 points. Goudelock had 17 of his game-high 27 points in the first eight minutes of play. The junior tied his career high with seven three-pointers, while also dishing off six assists. Donavan Monroe added 15 and Jeremy Simmons tacked on 10 for CofC. Casaan Breeden pulled down a career-high 12 rebounds.
Chattanooga (15-18) had two players in double figures, led by Ty Patterson's 16 on 6-of-9 field goals. DeAntre Jefferson came off the bench for 15 points, while Ridge McKeither led the Mocs on the glass with nine boards. Keegan Bell totaled eight assists.
UTC jumped on top 7-2 in the early going, before Goudelock scored 11 points in a 17-4 CofC run that gave the Cougars a 19-11 lead at 15:03. Charleston connected on 11 of its first 14 field goal attempts, stretching its advantage to 34-19 after ten and a half minutes of play.
Down 39-19 at the 7:28 mark, Bell drained back-to-back triples to cap a 17-6 UTC stretch that shaved the lead to nine, 45-36, with 2:40 to play before the break. The Cougar defense shutdown the Mocs over the final minutes and tacked on another 11 points to take a 56-36 lead into the locker room.
White, Jr. and Goudelock combined for 36 points and seven assists in the first half. Twelve of the Cougars 20 first-half buckets were from downtown as CofC finished the game shooting 16-of-31 (51.6) from beyond the arc.
The Mocs were unable to break into the lead in the second half as CofC led by 20 or more for most of the final minutes.
Senior guard Ty Patterson collapsed in the second half of Saturday night's Southern Conference Tournament Quarterfinal game against College of Charleston. Patterson was attended by team athletic trainer MacKenzie McDonald and team physician Bryan Mayol at the arena. He was transported to Carolina Medical Center in Charlotte where he is in stable condition. Patterson did not lose consciousness and was responsive in transport to the medical center. He is being kept overnight for observation.
The semifinals of the league tournament are set, as No. 2N Western Carolina and No. 1S Wofford will tangle in the first game at 6 p.m. followed by No. 2S College of Charleston against No. 1N Appalachian State at 9 p.m. at Time Warner Arena, home of the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats. The semifinal games will be televised on SportSouth.
