Coll. of Charleston Wins Again!

John Kresse knows his 17th-ranked College of Charleston team is quick, but this quick?

The Cougars (26-2) won their 23rd consecutive game, bolting to a 19-1 lead Friday en route to a 98-74 victory over Furman in the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference tournament.

Less than 10 minutes into the game, Charleston had taken a whopping 30-point lead over the stunned Paladins and finished with its most points in 102 games.

"We jumped ahead as quick as quick can be," said Kresse. "It was one of the finest starts in tournament play that I've been around in my 35 years of this great, great profession."

"We did it with tremendous passing. The assist stats at halftime were spendid, and I knew then that these seniors were going to keep moving the ball to one another for the best possible opportunities."

Sedic Webber led the season-high point and field-goal shooting (65 percent) production for the Cougars with 16 points as Charleston's starters finished a combined 23-for-33 from the field.

"If the media and the fans want to call this a statement, then more power to them, but our game plan everytime is to come out and play hard and put a dagger in the hearts of our opponents," Webber said.

Charleston, the No. 1 seed in the South Division after becoming the first Southern Conference team to go 16-0 in one season, had the day off during Thursday's opening round of the tournament.

But the Cougars were anything but rusty in their first tournament game since moving over from the Trans America Conference. They reeled off the game's first 13 points, and the rout was on.

"We had a great regular season, but that's done with now, so I think we are really focused about this tournament," said Jody Lumpkin, the only sophomore in the senior-dominated lineup. "I'm sure if this was a statement, bt it was more of just taking care of business to ourselves."

The big run early was fueled by league player of the year Webber, who scored 11 of his team's first 17 points as the Cougars nailed 12 of their first 16 shots. Webber was 7-for-8 from the field in the opening minutes, scoring 15 of his 16 points. Jermel President added 15.

Furman (12-16), with its most victories since the 1991-92 season and a first-round winner over VMI, got 15 points from Marcus Dilligard.

The Cougars didn't let up after their opening 19-1 run, allowing the Paladins only one basket in the game's first 10 minutes, using full-court zone pressure to force eight of 13 first-half turnovers.

The offense was clicking as well as the defense. Danny Johnson's 3-pointer gave Charleston a 36-6 lead less than halfway through the opening period.

"That was the finest 10 minutes of basketball I've seen in my 20 years of basketball," said Furman coach Larry Davis. "They came out smoking. We were not smoking."

Charleston was 20-for-30 from the field in the first half, and made four of its first five shots in the second half in case Furman had any ideas of mounting a comeback after trailing 49-23 at intermission.

The 23-game winning streak tied No. 1 Duke for the nation's longest.

Furman hasn't made it past the tournament quarterfinals since 1991.

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