Cougars Slip By Furman in Ugly SoCon Bout

College of Charleston 60, Furman 56

Top Performers:

Colin Reddick 25 points, 9 rebounds (5 offensive)

What a difference that final 2:30 makes on our perception of this game. If the Cougars had actually gone on to lose to the Furman Paladins I'm not sure the sky would still be above us. Luckily for everyone, Willis Hall and Andrew Lawrence found their stroke with little time to spare and the Cougar defense locked down to eek out a victory over the 3-9 Paladins.

This game started just how everyone expected- CofC jumped out to an early 13 point lead to start the game as the Paladins finished most offensive possessions with nothing to show for it. Pack it in boys, bring in the walk-ons coach. 

You know you were thinking the same thing too.

Apparently so did the Cougar players. The second "quarter" so to speak was another example this season of the guys just sort of going through the motions and putting the game into cruise control. Predictably, Furman was able to gain a freight train of momentum. Colin Reddick suddenly turned into circa 2009 Pau Gasol, finessing his way around our big guys on the way to a career night. The Furple guards got in on the action too. Never mind that they can't shoot threes, they just drove straight to the basket and got Adjehi Baru into quick foul trouble. After a near buzzer beater to cut the lead to the smallest it had been, the momentum on the opposing bench carried into the second half.

Everyone on the CofC roster had a bad night. The backcourt that had combined for nearly 80 points in the last two games shot a combined 8-27. Adjehi Baru found himself with 4 personals early in the second half, and with Trent still playing under a minutes limit, Willis and AT were left to try and stop the bleeding at the basket. 

The Cougars committed 17 turnovers. The Cougars...committed 17 turnovers....against Furman.

Ugly, ugly, nasty, ugly but there is a silver lining. Despite our own best efforts, the College was able to leave with a W because of the clutch plays made by the same guys who struggled all night. As Willis said after the game "Even though we don't look like it now [the team that was so good on the road trip], when it really mattered we were able to come through and get a win. And thank God." 

So the best thing now is to move on, make the necessary adjustments that we didn't see in-game, petition the NCAA to play all our games on the road and prepare for the rest of conference play. If Furman is going to bring it to us like that....