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Delaware vs. College of Charleston
College of Charleston Classic Finals
Kresse Arena, Charelston, SC
December 22, 1998

 

College of Charleston 80, Delaware 55


CHARLESTON, SC -- Tournament Most Valuable Player Sedric Webber came off the bench to score a game-high 26 points and pull eight rebounds as host College of Charleston used two big runs in the second half to post an 80-55 win in the championship game of the Charleston Classic Tuesday night at Kresse Arena, handing the University of Delaware men's basketball team its first loss of the season.

The host Cougars (8-2), who earlier this season knocked off North Carolina and Massachusetts, overcame a 42-36 Blue Hen lead with 13:44 left to play, using runs of 16-4 and 18-2 to take control.

The Hens were hurt when guard John Gordon fouled out with 14:15 left to play. The score was knotted at 32-32 at halftime.

The Hens, off to the best start in school and America East history, dropped their first game of the season to fall to 8-1. Delaware junior forward Mike Pegues was named to the All-Tournament tea after scoring 23 points and pulling eight rebounds. No other Blue Hen scored in double figures. Tyrone Perry had seven points while John Bennett had five points, seven rebounds, and three blocks.

Charleston hit on 19 of 29 shots from the field (66 percent) in the second half and took advantage of 39 percent shooting and 22 turnovers by the Blue Hens.

"I thought we lost a little poise when John (Gordon) fouled out," said Delaware head coach Mike Brey. "This is why we came down here. We knew we would play an outstanding team in a violent atmosphere. The crowd got to us a little and we need to learn from this situation. Webber gave us problems. We were concerned about the matchup and he did a great job and put up some big numbers. Overall, I think we learned a lot about our team this week."

Charleston also got 13 points from Carlos Brown and 11 points from Danny Johnson. Both were named to the All-Tournament team along with Webber, Pegues, Charleston Southern's Adam Larrick, and Stonybrook's Josh Little.

The Hens return to action Sunday night when they travel to Virginia for a 7:30 p.m. start.