Matt Sundberg (Kennesaw, Ga.) nailed a three-pointer with 28 seconds remaining to break open a 77-77 deadlock and stole Eastern Kentucky's inbound pass with a second left to help preserve the College of Charleston men's basketball team's 82-79 win over the Colonels in the opening game of the College Basketball Invitational in front of 1,750 fans at McBrayer Arena in Richmond, Ky.
The Cougars, who improved to 22-11, advance to the quarterfinals of the CBI and travel to VCU, a 79-73 winner over George Washington in its opener, Monday, Mar. 22 for a 7 p.m. game televised on HDnet. Eastern Kentucky ended its season 20-13.
After battling back most of the second half, the Cougars led by six, 71-65, with 7:13 remaining before Eastern Kentucky climbed back to tie the game at 77-77 off a jumper by Josh Taylor at the 50 second mark.
Sundberg took the pass from Tony White, Jr. (Knoxville, Tenn.) and nailed one of his three three-pointers on the night from the left side to propel the Cougars to the three-point lead with 28 seconds left. Justin Stommes cut the margin to one with 12 to go before White iced two free throws with nine ticks on the clock to give the Cougars the three-point lead again, 82-79. EKU took the ball down the court and had the chance to tie the game but Taylor missed a three-pointer with a second to go.
Spencer Perrin picked up the rebound and quickly called time-out. On the next play, Sundberg snatched the inbounds pass out of the air and held the ball as the clock expired to preserve the CofC win.
Charleston opened the game with a jumper by Andrew Goudelock (Lilburn, Ga.) at 19:01 but that would be the only lead of the first half as EKU built an 11-point, 22-11, lead with 10:27 to go. The Cougars outscored the Colonels 19-9 over the next eight minutes to trail by one, 33-32, with 2:19 on the clock Charleston tied the game at 37-37 with 53 seconds to go but a three-pointer by Papa Oppong at the 32 second mark gave the Colonels the three-point, 40-37 halftime lead.
Five Cougars scored in double-figures with Goudelock leading the way with 17. Donavan Monroe (Waxhaw, N.C.) and White followed with 15 points each. Sundberg posted 13, while Jeremy Simmons (Lithonia, Ga.) added 12 points to go with his team-leading eight rebounds.
Charleston had a season-high 22 assists, with White tying his career-high with seven on the night.
CofC shot 56.9 percent from the field and were 13-of-27 from beyond the three-point arc, while EKU was 59.6 percent from the field and nine-of-18 from the three-point line.
The Cougars were a perfect 11-for-11 from the free-throw line and had just 10 turnovers. The Colonels were eight-of-13 and had 15 turnovers on the night.
Eastern Kentucky out-rebounded CofC, 26-17.
Taylor led EKU with a career-high 28 points. Stommes followed with 13 points and a team-leading six rebounds.
