By Nathan Hutchinson
Register Sports Editor
RICHMOND — The Colonels certainly didn’t want Wednesday’s showdown with the College of Charleston to turn into a high-scoring shootout. But, it did. “We just did not have any answers (defensively),” Eastern Kentucky University coach Jeff Neubauer said. “We tried everything to try to stop them.” The Colonels (20-13) shot a blistering 59.6 percent from the field, however the Cougars hit 13 three-pointers and held on for a 82-79 at McBrayer Arena in the opening round of the College Basketball Invitational. College of Charleston (22-11) shot 48 percent from long range and had five players reach double-figures in scoring. “We knew they would be tough to defend and we knew we had to make shots,” College of Charleston coach Bobby Cremins said. “And we made shots.” Matt Sundberg delivered perhaps the biggest shot, hitting a three-pointer from the left wing with 24 seconds left that put the Cougars up 80-77. Andrew Goudelock later added two free throws to give College of Charleston an 82-79 lead with nine seconds left. “They are a great offensive team and we are a great offensive team,” EKU senior Josh Taylor said. “I just thought it would come down to who got the most stops. And they came out on top.” In the end, the Cougars needed one last defensive stop to secure the win. With just one second left, the Colonels had the opportunity to in-bound the ball under their own basket. “They put all five guys out on the perimeter, so we couldn’t even really get a good look,” Taylor said. “So, that was a good call on their part.” The in-bounds pass was batted away, allowing the Cougars to secure the win and set up a quarterfinal match-up with Virginia Commonwealth on Monday. “One of my assistants came up with that,” Cremins said of the final defensive stand. “It was a good idea.” The Colonels hadn’t played in 15 days, but they still looked sharp early. They raced out to a 7-2 lead and built an 11-point lead mid-way through the first half. College of Charleston battled back and took the lead just before the half, but a three-pointer by Papa Oppong with 20 seconds left allowed the Colonels to go into the locker room with a 40-37 lead. “Goudelock saved us in the first half,” Cremins said of the junior guard who had 13 first-half points. “We were in serious trouble and Goudelock caught fire. In the second half, Tony White, Andrew Lawrence and Matt Sundberg made some shots.” Taylor hit a pair of three pointers early in the second half as the Colonels connected on eight of their first nine field goal attempts after the break. Still, they couldn’t pull away. The Cougars took the lead on a Tony White, Jr. floater with 11:53 left and never trailed the rest of the way. In his final game at EKU, Taylor turned in a magnificent performance. The senior finished with a career-best 28 points on 11-of-16 shooting, including four-of-eight from three-point range and also had three assists. “He’s been a gallant competitor ever since he walked on campus,” Neubauer said of Taylor. The Colonels had not lost a game all season when they shot better than 50 percent and had only lost at home twice all year. Justin Stommes had 13 points and six rebounds and Oppong added 11 points. Goudelock had a team-best 17 points, while White had 15 points, all of which came in the second half, and Sundberg had 13 points. College of Charleston was also 11-of-11 from the free throw line. The Colonels have qualified for the postseason in three of the past six seasons, but the school still has never won a postseason game (0-8).
