CHARLESTON, S.C. – The College of Charleston men's basketball team was overcome by Gardner-Webb, 80-67, in front of an enthused crowd of 3,527 fans in its home opener on Monday night at TD Arena.

Guards Joe Chealey (Orlando, Fla.) and Anthony Stitt (Charlotte, N.C.) led the Cougars (1-1) offensively with 17 and 12 points, respectively, but CofC was undone by GWU's Jarvis Davis who went 6-of-9 from beyond the arc for a game-high 22 points.

GWU benefited from the elevated play of Tyrell Nelson and Jerome Hill on the block as well, as the two forwards combined for 37 points and 24 rebounds.

With 10 points and 12 rebounds, senior Adjehi Baru (Abidjan, Ivory Coast) collected his 16th career double-double, and freshman Donovon Gilmore (Greensboro, N.C.) picked up a 10-point, 11-rebound double-double in just his second collegiate game.

The Cougars got off to a cold start, converting just 2-of-8 from the field to open the game, while Davis knocked down three shots from beyond the arc in less than 90 seconds to stretch an early 12-4 Bulldog lead.

Gilmore and fellow freshman Cameron Johnson (Athens, Ga.) came on and provided an immediate spark for the Cougars, which slowed the Bulldogs' momentum. After Gilmore hit a jumper, Johnson knocked down back-to-back three pointers – adding a free throw to punctuate a four-point play on the second – to pour in seven unanswered points and reinsert the Cougars into the game.

Johnson and Gilmore's efforts led to a 19-4 Cougar advantage in points off the bench in the game.

The teams then exchanged possessions throughout a streaky, run-prone first half. CofC earned seven consecutive defensive stops at one point, but five straight CofC field goals clanged out at the other end, preventing the Cougars from distancing themselves.

GWU later opened a 10-4 run to lead by as many as seven with time winding down in the opening period, but CofC stormed back once again, and a three-pointer from Stitt leveled the teams at 28-28 late in the half.

After back-to-back jumpers fell for the Bulldogs, Baru made a layup through contact, and knocked down his ensuing free-throw for the old-fashioned three-point play, sending the Cougars to the locker room down, 32-31.

CofC faced shooting woes to start the second half, and seven-straight GWU field goal conversions opened a 52-34 Bulldog lead as the Cougars were punished for having only one field goal in the first eight minutes of the second half.

The Cougars were also plagued with foul trouble, as they committed their seventh team foul and put the Bulldogs in the bonus with over 14 minutes remaining in the game. As a result, GWU went to the line 26 times in the second half and CofC was compromised down low with three big men already bearing four fouls midway through the second half.

Despite an 18-point deficit, Charleston's devoted crowd willed the home team back into the contest, and a layup from Canyon Barry (Colorado Springs, Colo.) eventually cut the lead back to single digits.

At the four-minute mark, Chealey was fouled on his way up for a three-pointer and knocked down the long-range jumper despite the contact, and his four-point play cut the lead to eight.

GWU thwarted the effort from there, however, with Hill accounting for all of GWU's points during an 8-2 run down the stretch which put the game back out of reach. 15 of Hill's 18 points came in the second half.

CofC was unable to overcome a heavy GWU second-half shooting advantage (54% to 39%), in addition to 16 Bulldog points from the charity stripe in the second half.

The Cougars have another quick turnaround as they travel to the Puerto Rico Tip-Off where they open the tournament with defending national champion Connecticut on Thursday, Nov. 20 at 12:30 p.m. (ET). The game will be televised live nationally on ESPNU.

POSTGAME NOTES

• For the second-consecutive game, the College of Charleston went with the starting five of Joe Chealey, Anthony Stitt, Canyon Barry, Terrance O'Donohue and Adjehi Baru (1-1).

• With the win, Gardner-Webb now leads 2-1 in the all-time series with College of Charleston. Both teams last met in an ESPN BracketBusters game (L, 52-55) on Feb. 23, 2013 at TD Arena.

• Senior Adjehi Baru recorded his 16th career double-double with a season-high 10 points and 12 rebounds against Gardner-Webb.

• Freshman and reigning CAA Rookie of the Week Donovan Gilmore turned in his first career double-double with a career-high 10 points and 11 rebounds in only his second collegiate game.

• Freshman Cameron Johnson registered a career-high nine points with two made three-pointers.

• Senior Anthony Stitt turned in his second-straight game in double figures with 12 points.

• Sophomore Joe Chealey scored a team-and season-high 17 points with two steals.

POSTGAME QUOTES

College of Charleston Head Coach Earl Grant

On the game …

“It is really disappointing. We had a great crowd and I really wish we could have won that game and performed better for the crowd. We had a lot of students, a lot of the community came out, so just really disappointing. But, I thank the fans for being here. I was really disappointed that our interior defense around the basket was off. They scored too many paint baskets. We have to do a better job of protecting the rim. We're going to stick together and figure this out and work out our mistakes.”

On a tough night shooting the ball …

“We have been shooting the ball really well, but tonight was the first time we faced adversity against a team that made us go against the shot clock. We really were not prepared and did not have the poise when we had to face some adversity in the game. We are going to correct that. What made it hard was a lot of our big guys got in foul trouble. So, I had a 3-man playing the four and a 4-man playing the five. It was hard for us to execute under those circumstances.”

On takeaways from the loss …

“The biggest thing is, under adverse situations, there needs to be more poise from the players as well as me. There has to be more poise and we have to be sharper when it gets tough. I had Donovan (Gilmore) and Cameron (Johnson) out there and they're freshman. We have to continue to grow. At the end, I liked that the guys on the court did not stop fighting. I wanted to win this game badly for the crowd and everybody who showed up, but we have to learn from it and move forward to the next game.”

College of Charleston Senior Guard Anthony Stitt

On the second half of play …

“First off, we want to give Gardner-Webb credit. They had two good post players. We just didn't have an answer for them inside. We were trying to defend them, but they were just making moves. They outplayed us in the inside, so you have to give them credit for that.”

On the loss at home …

“Obviously, we are disappointed. We wanted to give a good performance for the home crowd and for Coach – it was his first home game and we wanted to start it off right. They (Gardner-Webb) just played harder than us. We have to get better defensively and learn from it and just move forward. Coming into conference play, we're going to see a lot more big men pounding inside, so we have to learn from it and get better.”

College of Charleston Sophomore Point Guard Joe Chealey

On the team's missed shots …

“It was tough. We missed some easy ones. We have to stay confident and keep taking those shots, because that's not where we lost the game. We have to play better defensively. We will learn from it and keep moving forward.”

On the atmosphere and student crowd …

“I can't say enough how much I appreciate the students. It was an electric atmosphere. We looked up and it was packed, more packed than I've ever seen in my time here. Hopefully, they will keep coming and we can perform better than we did tonight.”