CofC Lose on the road to the Spartans

GREENSBORO, NC – UNC Greensboro had only four players hit the scoring column, but three went for more than 20 as the Spartans topped College of Charleston, 75-67, in Southern Conference men’s basketball action at Fleming Gym on Thursday night.

The Spartans set a school record by shooting 84 percent from the floor in the second half, going 16-for-19. They made their first 10 shots of the half to erase a seven-point second half. Mikko Koivisto led the way with a career-high 25 points for UNCG (16-11, 10-8), which clinched the final bye slot in the upcoming Southern Conference Tournament with the win.

Kyle Hines had 23 points and eight rebounds for UNCG to extend his streak of games with 10 or more points to 77 in a row. The All-America candidate from Sicklerville, NJ also had three blocks and four steals. Kevin Oleksiak also had 22 points for the Spartans.

It was just the second time in UNCG’s Division I era that three Spartans topped 20 points in the same game. The only other time that happened was in an overtime loss to NC State last January.

The only other Spartan to score was Ben Stywall with five points, all of which came in the final 15:34.

Jermaine Johnson led the Cougars (12-16, 7-11) with 18 points and eight rebounds. Andrew Goudelock added 12 points and Donovan Monroe chipped in with 11 points for College of Charleston.


For the entire article courtesy of UNC-G athletics (click here)

UNC Greensboro 88, College of Charleston 71

From The Post & Courier: Charles Bennett, Photo Wade Spees (Post & Courier-staff) Donavan Monroe and the College of Charleston couldn’t get past Kyle Hines (42 ) and UNC Greensboro on Thursday.

A College of Charleston fan turned to his buddy during the Cougars' game with UNC Greensboro on Thursday night and said, "OK, they just missed a shot. We've got 'em now."

UNC Greensboro didn't make every shot, it only seemed that way, and the Spartans 66.7 shooting percentage produced an 88-71 Southern Conference victory that was the Cougars' second-worst defeat in John Kresse Arena.

Spartans center Kyle Hines led the way with 32 points.

"Kyle Hines is as good as advertised," said Charleston coach Bobby Cremins. "We didn't have an answer for him."

Or anybody else.

In addition to Hines' 32, the Spartans got 16 points from Kevin Olesiak, 15 from Ben Stywall and 13 from Mikko Koivisto.

"You can't win when you let Kyle Hines get his and all the other players, too," said Cougars guard Andrew Goudelock.

UNC Greensboro (11-6, 5-3 SoCon) started out hot and stayed that way. The Spartans were 18 of 27 from the field in each half.

"I said at halftime, 'We're not going to shoot the ball like this the second half,' " said UNCG coach Mike Dement. "Then we came out and did it. It's the best we've shot the ball in the three years I've been here and then I find out it's the best we've shot the ball in 19 years. It takes that against a good team."

Dement, who has watched Hines' dominant play in the Southern Conference for each of the last two years, said the defending Southern Conference Player of the Year was at his absolute best.

"Kyle Hines was the best I've seen him perhaps all year long," Dement said. "He was really focused, made some great moves. But everybody played well."

The Spartans came into the game 0-9 in John Kresse Arena and handed the Cougars their worst home defeat since a 68-42 loss to North Georgia in 1985.

"We came in focused," Hines said. "I don't know if it's the best game we've played this year, but it's in the top two or three. Everybody contributed."

The Cougars trailed by 10 at the half and never drew closer than nine points in the second half.

Goudelock led the Cougars (9-10, 4-5 SoCon) with 17 points and Tony White Jr. added 14. Goudelock and White Jr. were a combined 9-of-14 from 3-point range.

On most nights, that's good enough to win, but not on a night when stops were harder to come by than shots made.

Hines was unstoppable, making 14 of 16 shots from the field.

"I thought those two were going in for sure," said Hines, when asked about the two misses. "I guess it was just one of those nights."

It was a great night for all the Spartans.

When the Cougars doubled down on Hines, he simply kicked it out to the open man. The open man, regardless of who it was, usually made the shot.

"It seemed like they were just automatic," Goudelock said. "Every time I went up for a rebound it was going in."

Reach Charles Bennett at cbennett@postandcourier.com.

Cougs Couldn't Stop UNC-G's (#42) Kyle Hines

The Cougs trailed by 10 at the half, but the Spartans wouldn't put the brakes on in the second half. With the return of Jeremy Simmons, one would have expected the College of Charleston to have an answer for the Spartan's big men: Sellers, Wall, Mitchell, Hines and Pete Brown off the bench, but we didn't. I quit scoring the game half-way through, so I am not sure how many points Hines put on the board, but I do know this, he controlled the paint and our beloved Cougs didn't have an answer.

Cougs Lose (Big) at Home...

It wasn't pretty tonight. I haven't checked the stat sheets but I think this is the worst loss for the Cougs in Kresse Arena in twenty years. Which makes me quite apprehensive about Saturday.

Final score: Cougs 71, UNC-G 88

Under the Lights with Coach Cremins & Reminder, Cougs Host UNC-G Tonight!

The Cougs host UNC-G tonight. UNC-G are coming off two straight loses to UT-Chattanooga and App. State but don’t count these Spartans out. Kyle Hines became only the second player in Southern Conference history to record 300 blocked shots in a career with his two blocked shots against Elon on Jan. 19. These kids are definitely talented and hopefully the Cougs will have an answer to their forward’s attack in the paint. Game time is 7 pm @ Kresse Arena. I'll see you at the game!

Across town the Davidson Wildcats are facing off against the Citadel Bulldogs. Wear them down Dogs!

The College of Charleston wins on the road

UNC-G Coach Mike Dement could only look in awe as the College of Charleston added another notch to the victory belt as they defeated UNC-Greensboro (81-59) on the road. The College increases their record to 17-8, 10-3 (SoCon). Photo compliments of UNC-G Spartans.

Teams---1st half---2nd half---final
CofC ---25---56---81
UNCG---28---31---59


From the Den
Dontaye Draper's eight from behind the arc tied the school record for most 3-pointers in a game (Troy Wheless hit 8-3-pointers against Davidson, February 23, 2003) and a career high of 28-points helped the Cougars overcome a 3-point deficit at the half to beat UNCG in front of 1, 572 Spartan faithful. The Cougars shot 47.6% in the 1st half, and then shot a lights out season high of 59%, hitting 11 of 16 three point attempts, in the 2nd half. David Lawrence had a big game with 13-points and 9-boards. Big man, Josh Jackson put 10-points on the board and the youngster Tony White Jr added 11.

They say they don't need an introduction, but I'll give the Wildcats one anyway
The Cougars welcome the Davidson Wildcats to Kresse Arena Monday night at 7 pm. The Wildcats had this week off, but they will enter a hostile environment at Kresse Arena as this year means so much more than the past. I will have to ask Coach at the next Bobby Cremins Show to ease up on these Saturday-Monday games for next season. The team did a great job to win on the road! Spartans thanks for playing!

And now, since we are no longer looking forward to the next game instead of concentrating at the game at hand-let the blogging begin against Davidson! WB started a week ago, but I just couldn't (with good conscience) get involved yet! But tomorrow and Monday are wide-open. Leave any suggestions you might have, but I am not doing the serious trash talking I did last year (to my embarrassment).

CofC faces UNC-Greensboro today!

The Cougars are on the road to face UNC-Greensboro for the 20th time today at 4:30 pm. The game will air on ESPN Radio. The Cougars are 2-3 all-time at Fleming Gym and lost in the last meeting between the two schools (UNCG 72-CofC 58) on December 3, 2005. Dontaye Draper scored 17-points and Marcus Hammond put (then) a career high 14-points on the board.

From the Den
UNCG is 12-11, 9-4 in the (SoCon). The Cougars are 16-8, 9-3 (SoCon). Coach Cremins is 2-0 against UNCG. Head coach for the Spartans, Mike Dement is 2-1 against the College.