The Cougars dropped their final regular season game to the Eagles, 65-74

The Cougars fell to Georgia Southern today at Hanner Fieldhouse in front of 2,703 fans for the Eagles' seniors last home game. The College is now 3-4 in their last 7-final season games. The Cougars dropped to 20-10, 13-5 (SoCon) as we get ready for the SoCon Tournament next week. The Cougars will play Thursday night, their opponent has yet to be announced. The Eagles finished their season 14-15, 7-11 (SoCon) and showed today that despite their record, they are a formidable opponent for their next opponent in the SoCon Tournament. (Photo compliments of CofC Sports)

For members of the Maroon Nation watching from home, we missed the first minutes of the game as the Marist vs. Sienna game went into OT. The Cougars had the lead off the fingers of Draper and Tony White Jr. hitting back to back 3-balls and a lay-up by Jermaine Johnson added to Draper's point from the charity-stripe to give the Cougars a 13-5 lead at the 14:48 mark. (due to time restraints I will post more on this later)

From the Den

Philip McCandies matched his career-high of 4 blocks in a game before the 10-minute mark in the 1st half; he would end the day with a new career-high of 7 blocks in the game, six of which he swatted in the 1st half. Dontaye Draper scored 9-points and dished out 9-assists, hitting 3-12 from the field and 2-7 from behind the arc in his 38-minutes of play. Jermaine Johnson finished with 4-boards and 14-points hitting 7-11 field goals. David Lawrence was 5-11 from the field and 3-8 from behind the arc, as he pulled down 8-boards and finished with 14-points in 37-minutes of play. Josh Jackson had 3-assists and rolled sixes with 6-points and 6-boards. The walk-on player brought in by Coach Cremins, Tony White Jr. went 3-5 from the field and hit both of his 3-balls for a total of 9-points. Returning from his knee-injury, Marcus Hammond was 3-5 in the field and 3 for 4 from behind the arc, putting 9-points on the board in his 16-minutes of play. Finally, Javon Parris was able to score 2-points in the 8-minutes he was on the court today.

Teams---1st Half---2nd Half---Total

CofC---39---26---65

Ga. Southern---36---38---74

Honoring the College of Charleston Basketball Seniors!

(Photo from L to R: Nardo, Philip, CofC President George Benson, CofC Head-Coach Bobby Cremins, Dontaye and David-photo courtesy of CofC Sports)

College of Charleston Basketball Seniors in Action
In their final home game, in front of the 3rd largest crowd at Kresse Arena the Cougars' 4 seniors did not have the blow-out victory they wanted, but a "W" is a "W" and there is still a lot of basketball for the Cougars to play before they move to greener fields.

Renardo Dickerson: Nardo only played for 4-minutes, and wasn't able to increase his stats, but he was a dependable presence on the court in transition.
Dontaye Draper: Dontaye went 4-6 from the field, scoring 8-points with 3-boards in his 27-minutes of play.
David Lawrence: David was a rock star for 30-minutes, putting 21-points on the board, hitting 7-13 from the field, 3-4 from the charity-stripe, grabbing 5-rebounds and he was 4 for 8 from behind the arc.

Philip McCandies: Philip was limited to only 5-points, but he played fantastic defense and grabbed 11-rebounds for the College in his 30-minutes of play. He took advantage of the Citadel's pressure-defense, hitting 3 for 4 from the charity-stripe. Philip is averaging 8.3-boards in the last 3-games.

Senior Night: Philip McCandies

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Maroon Nation, I proudly present to you #2, Philip Thomas McCandies! Philip is a transfer from Virginia Tech where he played 28-games in the 2003-2004 season. McCandies (due to NCAA Rules) sat out the 2004-2005 season, but he started 28-games for the Cougars last season, averaging 5.2-points and 2.4-rebounds per game. Philip is a Corporate Communications major who knew how to send Furman a message earlies this season (see video).

McCandies 2006-2007 Season Stats
Philip is averaging 7.3-points, 7-boards and 1-assist per game, shooting 54.9% from the field this season. Phillip averages 26.3 minutes per game in the 28 game he's played. (Photo compliments of CofC Sports)

(Editor's Note: I am still spelling Philip with one-L despite seeing it spelled with one and two "L"s this and last season-please correct me if I am wrong.)

Cougs Win Over Western-Carolina...but at what costs?

With Renardo Dickerson on the injured-reserve it was with great hesitation that I watched Marcus Hammond leave the game after injuring his knee during tonight's game. Marcus scored 5-points and 3 assists in his 22-minutes of playing time tonight, before being injured. Initial reports note a needed knee surgery meaning Marcus will be out for at least three weeks. Get well Marcus! The Cougars won for the 13th time in 15 games tonight, improving to 16-8, 9-3 (SoCon) with their win over Western Carolina (9-14, 6-6 (SoCon) 76-64. (Photo of Marcus Hammond from CofC Sports.com)

From the Den
The Cougars shot lights out in the first half, hitting 68% of their shots and putting 44-points on the board. Coach Cremins' main concern was the 3-ball threat the Catamounts have in their arsenal, and despite W.C. freshman Nick Aldridge scoring 39-points against the College, we did hold them to 1 for 13 from behind the arc, maintaining our number 1 ranking in the SoCon at defending the three-point shot.

The Cougs led 54-31 with 17-minutes left on the clock, until Aldridge hit the aforementioned 3-ball to start a 22-8 run by the Catamounts. Despite fighting a flu-bug Jermaine Johnson would finally get mean in the paint, leading the Cougars with 18-points. David Lawrence added 15-points (hitting 4 of 6, 3-pointers), 6 assists and 6 rebounds. Philip McCandies added 14-points and led the team with 11-boards. Dontaye Draper matched his jersey with 11-points in the game. Great job tonight to all of the Cougars! Western Carolina, thanks for playing.

CofC hits blackjack in Myrtle Beach, beating the Chanticleers by 21!

The College of Charleston (5-6) notched another win tonight defeating the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers, 70 to 49. In the 41st meeting between the two schools, the Cougars shot a season high 50% from the field and controlled the boards 45-22. The College has won the last 8 meetings and 11 of the last 12 meetings between the two schools. Coach Cremins is now 5-0 (lifetime) against Coastal Carolina. (Photo compliments of How Stuff Works)

From the Den
David Lawrence scored 17-points, and Marcus Hammond put 11-points on the board to help bring the Cougars their 2nd straight win. Jermaine Johnson muscled 9-points and brought down 13-boards as the Cougs established dominance. Philip McCandies and Dontaye Draper both scored 7-points in the win. The Cougs led by 13-points at the half (36-23) and after a 10-1 run in the 2nd half, led by 20. The College would led by as much as 25 in the 2nd, as they scored 34 points to the Chanticleers 26 in the final half. Coastal Carolina shot 32.7% from the field and 3 of 16 from behind the arc.
Nice Show Cougs! Chanticleers, thanks for playing!

CofC and Cremins win their first home game against UNC-Wilmington

The Cougars won their first home game at Kresse Arena under Bobby Cremins against UNC-Wilmington 91-70. The team on the court showed the "Bah-Bee Cremins" (the crowd chanted Coach's name with 2-minutes left to the game) touch complete with fundamental outside shooting and impeccable defense. The Cougars are on a two-game win streak and are now 3-2, 0-0 in the SoCon and play the Kentucky Wildcats @ Rupp Arena on Tuesday. The game will be televised on Fox Sports South. (Photo courtesy of SoCon Sports.com)

From the Cougar Den:
Dontaye Draper (G) led the Cougs with 28-points, scoring 22 of his 28-points in the 2nd half. Senior Philip McCandies (C) notched his 4th career double-double (his 2nd this season) with 15-points and 15-boards. Sophomore Jermaine Johnson (F) scored a career high of 19-points and our forwards, David Lawrence and Renardo Dickerson each had 8-points 8-boards to help bring the Cougars and Coach Cremins their first victory at home.