Mark Byington takes the post as College of Charleston's head basketball coach for the first time in his career (Abby Frye/GSO)

Today’s game was about the same thing it has ever been about, winning that last rivaled game before going into the SoCon Tournament. Wofford claimed that win this afternoon 68-59.

No game comes without emotional undertones and the possibility of unexpected circumstances. Today’s game had all of these elements but magnified x10. Approximately 30 hours ago the players were told their head coach Bobby Cremins would be stepping down and handing the reigns to interim head coach Mark Byington. Given this quick rearrangement of the coaching staff and the added emotions, these guys still managed to play a powerful and, quite simply, a great game of basketball.

Senior Antwaine Wiggins told us what this game was for him, that being a vivacious and hard fought 40 minutes.

“It felt good to get back on the court and play the game you love. We didn’t come out with the win but we are proud of how hard we work and how hard we played. We are just going to keep working and keep getting better from here.”

Sophomore Trent Wiedeman was down on the loss but knows the challenge of this rivalry, “It’s been a little bit of an emotional game considering what has happened,” adding, “it was really unfortunate to come out losing again to that one. It’s been a bit of a rivalry the past couple of years. I give all the credit to Wofford, they are a really good team.”

Trent Wiedeman adds another double-double to his career with 18 points and 10 rebounds (Abby Frye/GSO)

The first half was much more of a grind for the Cougars as they could not sink a basket. Every player who entered the game for the Cougars put up a shot but only three of these players could sink a basket.

No shame here though, this game was played with passion and everyone in the TD Arena knew that.

After a run of six missed shots over the course of a minute, between both team, Wiggins managed to tip the ball in the basket. Moments later Wiggins followed up with a 3-pointer bringing the Cougars closer to the Terriers’ lead, 24-15.

The students and fans pulled out all the stops: whiting out the crowd and cheering at every major motion of the Cougars, especially during the second half.

Only three minutes into the second half Cougar fans and players alike burst into a roar of cheering. A slam-dunk by Wiedeman followed by a Sundberg 3-pointer put the entire Cougar bench of coaches and players on their feet cheering.

With 7:15 on the clock the Cougars went on a 10-3 run, putting the Cougars within five points of the Terriers, 51-46.

The Cougars’s defense kept the Terries at bay for a significant portion of the second half.

Antwaine Wiggins scored 14 points for the Cougars coming up wiht five rebounds and three assist(Abby Frye/GSO)

After a Wofford time-out and only 4:37 on the clock the game still felt like it was in the Cougar’s reach, the game standing at a minimum of two possessions to tie up the game. Unfortunately the Terriers went on to stretch back out the lead and take home the win.

The difference in the second half for the Cougar, according to Wiedeman, was a matter of, “just making shots.”

In interim head coach Mark Byington’s first press conference there was a great amount of humble appreciation for the support and fight from both the crowd and, of course the team.

“First thing I’d like to make a statement about how proud I was of how hard our guys played and competed, these guys were jumping for loose balls, flying around sacrificing their body. I told them if they keep playing like that, good things are going to happen to them,” adding on to applaud the six man in the game, “the second thing that comes to my mind was how great our fans were tonight and I could feel their support. I know our team could feel their support and they were trying hard to pull us over the hump and our guys want to do well for them.”

Wiggins assured Cougar Nation, “everything happens for a reason and I believe Coach B (Byington) can turn this thing around and we are going to work hard for him.”