Cougars hoping to dance toward finals

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"A journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step," said Confucius.

"We're going to take them one game at a time," said Cremins.

No one is likely to mistake Charleston's head basketball coach for Confucius, but Bobby Cremins is leaning on a clich? seemingly as old as that Chinese philosopher as his team prepares for a journey he hopes will end Monday night with the Cougars winning a Southern Conference Tournament Championship.

That first step, their first game, comes at 7:30 p.m. at the North Charleston Coliseum when the No. 6 seed Cougars (14-16) take on No. 11 seed The Citadel (6-23) in a first-round matchup.

The winner moves on to face No. 3 seed Georgia Southern at 9:15 p.m. Saturday.

"Everybody knows we're capable of playing well and everybody knows we're capable of not playing so well," Cremins said. "We played so well last year and it was such an exciting tournament for us. But that was an entirely different team. We're not looking at four games in four days. We're looking at one game at a time."

Even so, the bracket couldn't possibly set up better for a run by the Cougars.

Top-seeded Davidson, unbeaten in the conference, is on the other side of the bracket, so the Cougars wouldn't have to play them until the championship game.

Charleston has already beaten The Citadel twice by convincing margins.

The Cougars split with the remaining four teams on their side of the bracket, so no one looms as unbeatable.

What Cremins is hoping his team realizes is that it's also far from unbeatable, even tonight against a Bulldogs team that was 1-19 in league play.

"I still have nightmares of the Western Carolina game and all the turnovers," Cremins said. "And I know what (the Bulldogs) are thinking. They're thinking upset. And if we're not ready to play, we will be upset. If we take The Citadel lightly, we'll be in serious trouble. We better be ready to play our best basketball. This is do or die now."

That much seems to have sunken in with the Cougars.

"Guys are starting to realize it's now or never," said junior forward Jermaine Johnson. "Now it's either win or go home. Nobody really wants the season to end right now. We feel like we're not done yet."

The Cougars are latching on to their improving performance in their last two games, a 91-86 victory over Georgia Southern and a 77-59 victory over Furman, as evidence that the team is finally starting to put it all together.

"The pieces are starting to come together, but it's not complete," said sophomore guard Tony White Jr. "But these last two games have given us a little bit of momentum going into the tournament, and that's exactly what we wanted."

The Cougars also are drawing motivation from the words of The Post and Courier columnist Ken Burger, who gave Charleston little or no chance to make a run in this week's tournament.

"We're going to dedicate every win to Ken Burger," Johnson said.

 

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Bulldogs are eager for another shot at Cougs



After failing twice this season to break the 50-point mark in losses to College of Charleston, you'd think The Citadel Bulldogs would have had enough of the rival Cougars.

You'd be wrong.

Citadel basketball coach Ed Conroy insists his 11th-seeded Bulldogs are eager for a third shot at No. 6 College of Charleston today in the first round of the Southern Conference Tournament at the North Charleston Coliseum.

"March is a magical time, and we feel fortunate to be playing against College of Charleston," Conroy said this week. "We have not had good performances against them, and I know our guys feel bad about that. They feel like they've let down our fans and their fellow cadets.

"And so to get another shot at them, it's really exciting and it has given us a boost in practice this week."

The Citadel (6-23, 1-19) scored just nine points in the first half of a 69-46 loss to College of Charleston on Jan. 14, and was only a little better in a 63-48 road loss on Feb. 4. In two of their worst performances of the season, the Bulldogs shot 31.3 percent in two games with the Cougars.

"We definitely struggled in those two games, and to be honest I'm not sure what it was," said Citadel guard Austin Dahn, who was named Thursday to the SoCon coaches' all-freshman team. "The first time, we came out flat and they jumped on us right away.

"The second time at their place, they went on a run in the second half. That's just part of the game."

Citadel guard Cameron Wells, the SoCon freshman of the year, said the enormity of the rivalry game may have taken the young Bulldogs by surprise.

"We didn't come focused and ready to play," he said. "The hype might have gotten to us a little bit. But we've played them twice now, and I think we've calmed down some."

Starting five freshmen most of the season, Conroy has found himself plugging holes on a daily basis. In the season's final week, it was defense, particularly in the post, that plagued the Bulldogs. Three of their last four opponents ? Georgia Southern, Furman and Wofford ? averaged 87.3 points and 54.6-percent shooting in wins over The Citadel.

"Offensively, I felt we played well enough to win the last two games," Conroy said. "But on defense, we just had no answers. We've gone back to work to try to get better on the defensive ends. It's no secret where people are tying to exploit us, and we have to find a way. Whether it's through strategy or effort or fundamentals, we have to find a way.

"I think it comes down to finishing plays. We are in the right position, which you should be after 29 games. But we just have not been able to secure that rebound or make the play around the rim. And that's led people to have confidence going to the basket and shooting without fear."

In the first game this season, Cougar big men Jermaine Johnson and Dustin Scott led the way, Johnson with 12 points and 10 rebounds and Scott with 11 points and seven boards, as the Cougars shot 59.2 percent. In the second meeting, it was guards Tony White Jr. (12 points) and Andrew Goudelock (12 points) who scored as C of C shot 49 percent from the field.

Up and down through coach Bobby Cremins' second season, the Cougars finished strong with home wins over No. 3 Georgia Southern and 10th-seeded Furman.

"As great a coach as Bobby is, you knew he'd keep the team together," Conroy said. "They have ability, and it seems like they are starting to gel. I expect they will have a great performance (today), and I feel good about our guys stepping up and playing well, too."

The winner gets Georgia Southern in the quarterfinals Saturday.

"I told our guys, this game should bring out our best," Conroy said. "It's the championships, anyway, and if we can be successful against College of Charleston, there's no better game to give us momentum."