Andrew Lawrence had 18 points and the College of Charleston held off a second half rally by Coastal Carolina to hang on for a 77-70 win on Thursday night in Conway. Coach Bobby Cremins saw his Cougars get an early Christmas present when the Chanticleers picked up a pair of technical fouls before the start of the game for dunking two times during pregame warmups. Lawrence made all four free throws to put C of C in front 4-0 before the opening tip. Matt Sundberg hit a half court shot to beat the first half buzzer to put the Cougars in front 41-27 at the break. Coastal trailed by as many as 17 in the second half before mounting a rally. CCU got as close as 61-58 on a Chris Gradnigo three point play, but never got closer than that. Antwaine Wiggins hit a key three pointer and followed with a scoop shot to put the game out of reach.
"We stole seven points," Cougars head coach Bobby Cremins said. "That's a once in a lifetime shot (Sundberg's half court shot). It was an incredible shot and then the four points." Cliff Ellis said the two technicals before the game started was something he had never seen before, but took responsibility for his team making a key mental mistake even though he was in the locker room when the infractions happened.
Anthony Raffa led Coastal with 17 points and Sam McLaurin added 14 points and 11 rebounds. The Chants outrebounded the College 31-26, but the Cougars had 11 three pointers highlighted by Sundberg going 5 of 7. Coastal is on a two game losing streak and stands at 9-3 on the season while C of C is now 10-2. Coastal is off until New Year's Eve, when they return to Big South play at High Point.
College of Charleston/CCU Box Score
