Charleston overpowers Central

Central's Derek Walker took a shot over Charleston defenders during the third quarter of their third-place game Saturday during the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament at the Show Me Center. (Kit Doyle) [Click to enlarge]

The Tigers fell to the Bluejays 63-46 on Saturday.

Charleston's Brian Parham was a bit in awe over the performance by his teammate Antonio Riggens in the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament on Saturday.

Riggens poured in 21 points, including hitting five 3-pointers, to help the No. 1 Bluejays beat No. 7 Central 63-46 in the third-place consolation game at the Show Me Center.

"It's a first for him" scoring all those points, Parham said. "He normally don't look to shoot. He looks to pass. But when he shoots, he shoots."

Riggens said he was also somewhat surprised he could put that many points on the scoreboard, saying that he has never had more than 10 points this season.

He said he was fired up to play after the disappointment he felt losing to Notre Dame in the semifinals Friday.

"That's my highest [points] of the year," he said. "I was on the bus thinking about the game from yesterday and how we played and I knew I had to come with a better performance."

Riggens scored 19 of his 21 points in the first half.

He nailed three 3-pointers in the first quarter, giving his team leads of 5-2, 9-4 and then 12-7 with 5:05 remaining in the first period. He also scored a basket down in the paint later in the quarter to give his team a 10-point advantage.

The Bluejays led 21-17 at the end of the first.

Riggens extended that lead to 24-17 by nailing another 3-pointer 1:45 into the second quarter. He hit another basket from beyond the arc about three minutes later to give his team a 30-21 advantage.

Anthony Watts said the Central game plan was focused more on stopping the bigger players who typically score for Charleston, such as the 6-5 Parham and 6-2 Donald Dixon.

"Our game plan was to sag off and help in the post," Watts said. "But he [Riggens] hit all 3s on us and it really didn't work. We knew he could shoot, but he had a really good game."

Riggens played well on defense, too, making a nice stealing with less than a minute remaining before the break and passing it ahead to Donald Dixon, who passed it to Brian Parham, who went in for the breakaway layup to put Charleston on top 36-25 at the break.

The Bluejays as a team stepped it up on defense starting in the second quarter.

After allowing the Tigers 17 first-quarter points, the Bluejays allowed Central only eight points in the second and nine in the third.

"They just pressured us," Watts said. "They pressured us pretty good and got up in us."

Charleston led at halftime 36-25 and controlled the second half to come way with the 17-point victory.

"It feels good, Riggens said. "It feels better than fourth place."

Central (46) -- Cantrell Andrews 4, Josh Harris 2, Anthony Watts 7, Chase Johnson 11, Shane Nolen 12, Zack Boerboom 5, Drew Gardner 5, Derek Walker 2, Rick Russell 1. FG 20, FT 5-15, F 11 (3-pointers: Nolen 2, Watts 1, Gardner 1. Fouled out: none)

Charleston (63) -- Antonio Riggens 21, Marquez Ware 1, Jerquawn Sherrell 5, Deonte Jones 10, Fred Pratt 2, Donald Dixon 9, Brian Parham 15. FG 20, FT 8-14, F 16 (3-pointers: Riggens 5, Jones 2, Parham 1. Fouled out: none)