Donald Sims scored 19 of the Mountaineers’ season-low 25 first-half points and added nine more in the second half to lead all scorers with 28 in the contest.
The home team raced out to a 28-13 lead and increased it to as many as 19 points before the intermission.
After a scoreless first half, Petey Hausley sank 6-of-9 attempts in the second half to finish with 12 points and five rebounds. Cameron Wells led four Bulldogs (7-13, 3-5) in double figures with 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting with six rebounds and six of The Citadel’s 18 assists. Mike Groselle chipped in 18 points on 9-of-12 shooting with five boards for the Cadets.
Anthony Breeze notched a season-high nine points on 3-of-5 shooting with three free throws for ASU. The junior chipped in four rebounds and a pair of assists as well. Marcus Wright scored seven points off the bench to accompany three rebounds, an assist and one of ASU’s two steals.
Last Saturday, Jan. 22, the Mountaineers fell behind early against the potent College of Charleston offense and despite outscoring the Cougars in the second half, ASU suffered a 73-64 defeat at the Carolina First Arena.
ASU trailed by 15 points early in the second half before cutting the deficit to single digits on four occasions, but never pulled closer than nine points after intermission as the Cougars seemingly always found an answer to Mountaineer runs.
ASU (8-11, 4-5 SoCon) shot 37.5 percent in the first half and 40 percent after the break to finish at 39.3 percent with three treys in nine attempts. Charleston shot a scorching 54.8 percent in the opening period but was cooled off by the ASU defenders to finish the game at 44.8 percent.
Sims led ASU for a second-straight game with 21 points on 7-of-14 shooting with four of ASU’s eight assists and three rebounds.
CofC won the battle of the boards by a slim 37-35 margin, paced by nine rebounds by Jeremy Simmons. Simmons led the Cougars with 18 points and scored his 1,000th career point in the second half.
Breeze made his first start of the season for the Black and Gold and produced a career-best 10 points in the first half before sustaining a head injury. The junior added a pair of rebounds in 15 minutes on the floor. Williamson came off the bench for the first time this season and responded with 10 rebounds, four points and a huge block on CofC’s Andrew Goudelock in the second half after the Mountaineers cut the score to 55-46 with 13 minutes to play. CofC’s newly-minted career scoring leader was limited to 15 points on 7-of-21 shooting with just one three-pointer in seven attempts.
Omar Carter started sluggish in the first half, missing his first five shots before sinking 4-of-10 field goals after the break to finish with 10 points, eight rebounds and a pair of assists.
ASU returns home to Boone at 7 p.m. this Thursday, Jan. 27, for a Southern Conference final rematch from last season as Wofford visits in the only regular season meeting between the teams.
