The College of Charleston men's basketball team scored 12 points in the final three minutes and held the Winthrop Eagles scoreless as Charleston won 69-57 in the first home game of the season.

Charleston improves to 1-1 after a disappointing loss at Coastal Carolina last weekend while Winthrop drops to 1-1.

Junior Andrew Goudelock led in scoring with 18 points, 11 coming in the second half in big 3-point shots that brought fans to their feet.

Fouls plagued both teams throughout the game with 20 combined in the first half. The referees didn't stop there, and neither teams were too happy. Winthrop added nine more fouls in the second half and Charleston added six.

Sophomore center Jeremy Simmons came off his two-game suspension ready to play. Simmons made his first three out of four shots in the first half, all within 10 minutes. He finished with 14 points and four blocks, two of which came in the final five minutes of play.

"His presence is a big, big difference," Charleston coach Bobby Cremins said after the game.

During the first half, the game went back and forth as the Eagles held a lead the majority of the period.

Freshman Willis Hall managed to take the spotlight and put Charleston in the lead with a steal at half court and a lay up, setting the Cougars up for a 30-29 lead with under a minute to play.

The Cougars failed to take advantage of the final possession of the first half as Cremins took a timeout with 14.2 seconds remaining. The play stalled and senior point guard Tony White missed out on a long-range 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Charleston then jumped out in front during the second half as the team tried to make up for its first half 28 percent 3-point shooting. White nailed a 3-pointer, followed immediately by Goudelock. Winthrop answered with a two-point bucket, but Hall responded right back with a 3-pointer.

It wasn't long after that series of 3-point baskets that junior Donovan Monroe hit back-to-back free throws and then a 3-pointer of his own.

Monroe didn't stop there. He grabbed seven rebounds and two steals in the game.

"He's the heart and soul of our team right now," Cremins said, praising Monroe's performance.

In disturbingly consistent fashion, Charleston let its lead slip to as close as two points in the second half with three minutes to play. That's when the Cougars put the Eagles away, and the 3,421 in attendance didn't see another Winthrop basket.

"The bottom line is it's a two-point game with three minutes, and we didn't score," Eagles head coach Randy Peele said after the game. "Simmons took us to school early. Goudelock was really big. When you make mistakes, he makes you pay."

Peele said he was appalled by his team's shooting.

"We got beat by 12 points. We got 70 shots at the basket. They got 48 shots. The difference was those 3-pointers," Peele said.

Andre Jones led the Eagles with 11 points and Matt Morgan finished with 10 points. Mantoris Robinson grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.

White finished with 11 points, including six for six from the free throw line, and Hall finished with 10 points.

Charleston will travel to East Tennessee State on Nov. 25 and to Tennessee on Nov. 27.

Geoff Yost contributed to this report.