Posted on Sat, Nov. 29, 2008

CHARLESTON — It was a brief conversation in the hallway. Darrin Horn, leaning against a wall, was spied a few feet away by Bobby Cremins.

“Darrin, thanks for everything,” Cremins said.

“Good luck coach,” Horn replied.

Still, the symbolism was evident: Horn had been handed his first loss as South Carolina’s coach by Cremins, the Gamecock legend.

A trip to Charleston ended up being a bad night of history for the Gamecocks. Not only did Horn lose his first game, 82-80 in overtime, but USC fell to the College of Charleston in men’s basketball for the first time since 1930.

Las Vegas had the game as a toss-up. It lived up to that, with a frantic finish to both regulation and overtime.

Tony White Jr. hit two free throws with 3.4 seconds left in overtime to provide the difference for the College of Charleston. USC’s Dominique Archie, who hit a key 3-pointer in the final minute of regulation, saw his subsequent inbounds pass get picked off.

Archie’s shot had completed a six-point swing in which the Gamecocks had a two-point lead with 11.7 seconds left. But the Cougars’ Andrew Goudelock answered with a long jumper, barely inside the 3-point line, to force the extra five minutes.

Horn had said this would be the Gamecocks’ (4-1) biggest challenge this season. In fact, it was the first time his team even trailed in the second half this young season.

“We tried to speed them up, but they were so disciplined, and they really stuck to their gameplan,” Archie said of the Cougars (5-1).

The Gamecocks committed 19 turnovers, which negated an outstanding shooting performance (8-for-12 on 3-pointers, and 50 percent from the field).

Horn also blamed the team’s “defensive production,” citing Charleston’s 48 percent shooting and 14 offensive rebounds.

“We didn’t do the things we needed to do to win on the road tonight against a good opponent,” Horn said.

Ultimately, however, it was all even except for critical moments at the end.

As overtime wound down, College of Charleston’s White waited until the final seconds and drove. He was stopped about 12 feet out, and officials called USC’s Zam Fredrick for a foul. That sent White to the line with 3.4 seconds left. He made both.

“I couldn’t tell, they called it so it must have been a foul,” Horn said. “It just seemed like we ended up on the ground a lot driving to the basket in the second half, like Devan’s possession right before that, that (a foul) didn’t happen.

“But that’s not what these games come down to. They come down to the course of the game, defending and rebounding and taking care of the basketball. And over the course of 45 minutes, those are not three things we did well enough to win a game like this.”

In the final minute of regulation, USC was down four and it would have been five if not for a missed free throw. But Evka Baniulis and Archie hit consecutive 3s to swing the lead.

USC’s two-point lead disappeared after two timeouts and with seconds left, when Andrew Goudelock hit a long jumper. It initially appeared to be a 3, but a review confirmed a two-pointer.

It would only delay the Cougars’ win.

Cremins, who spent about 72 hours as USC’s coach in 1993, deflected any talk of this win being extra sweet.

“That had nothing to do with it. I love my alma mater,” Cremins said. “Once the game starts, it’s about the game, it’s not about me and South Carolina.”

South Carolina	42	34	4—80
College of Charleston	41	35	6—82
SOUTH CAROLINA	Min	FG	FT	R	A	F	Pt
Archie	30	5-7	1-2	7	2	3	12
Holmes	36	7-11	0-2	12	0	2	14
Downey	41	10-20	1-3	5	4	4	22
Conrad	40	3-4	2-2	5	3	1	10
Fredrick	42	2-11	4-4	3	4	4	8
Wilder	1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0
Steed	18	0-4	0-0	2	0	3	0
Baniulis	17	5-7	0-0	3	0	0	14
Totals	225	32-64	8-13	41	13	17	80
COLL. OF CHARLESTON	Min	FG	FT	R	A	F	Pt
Johnson	39	5-10	2-3	14	3	2	12
Scott	32	4-11	2-3	5	0	3	10
Wiggins	36	5-12	2-3	8	2	3	13
Goudelock	44	8-18	3-4	3	6	1	20
White Jr.	37	7-11	5-6	2	1	4	21
Simmons	19	1-3	0-0	3	0	0	2
Hammond	18	1-6	1-4	0-0	2	0	4
Totals	225	31-71	15-23	38	14	13	82

3-pointers: USC 8-12 (Baniulis 4-4, Conrad 2-3, Archie 1-2, Downey 1-2, Fredrick 0-1). CofC 5-18 (White Jr. 2-4, Hammond 1-3, Goudelock 1-3, Wiggins 1-5, Scott 0-3). Turnovers: USC 19, CofC 12. Officials: Billy Dunalp, Chuck Jones, Anthony Jordan. A: 5,032.

Reach Emerson at (803) 771-8676.