CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- Jeremy Simmons scored 18 points off the bench on 8-of-8 shooting to lead College of Charleston to a 69-56 win over North Carolina-Greensboro on Friday in the first round of the Southern Conference tournament.
The Cougars (24-7), who are trying to deliver coach Bobby Cremins his first SoCon tournament title in 30 years, will play Western Carolina in Saturday's quarterfinals.
Cremins won the 1979 league title with Appalachian State.
Andrew Goudelock's 3-pointer less than three minutes in put the Cougars up 9-2. They stretched their advantage to 33-15 with 3:07 left in the half on two free throws by Tony White Jr.
The Spartans never got within single digits in the second half.
White added 15 points for the Cougars and Dustin Scott had 16 rebounds.
Ben Stywall led UNC-Greensboro (5-25) with 21 points and Pete Brown had nine.