CHARLESTON, S.C. – The College of Charleston men's basketball team suffered a 64-58 loss to Delaware in Colonial Athletic Association action on Saturday night at TD Arena.

Charleston (5-12, 0-4 CAA) turned in its third-most productive shooting effort of the season at 49 percent (23-for-47), but Delaware (2-3, 1-3 CAA) earned 10 more trips to the free throw line than the Cougars, finishing 14-of-21 compared to CofC's 5-of-11 mark  from the stripe.

CofC led in field goal percentage (49% - 40%) and field goals made (23-21) while the teams finished evenly split in rebounds (32-32), but Delaware held itself to just three turnovers and turned nine Cougar turnovers directly into 13 points extra points.

The Cougars were led offensively by sophomores Joe Chealey (Orlando, Fla.) and Canyon Barry (Colorado Springs, Colo.) with 17 and 13 points respectively, but the Cougars' diverse, dynamic attack resulted in at least eight points out of all five starters.

Freshman Donovan Gilmore (Greensboro, N.C.) also finished in double figures with 12 points, and shared the game-high in rebounds (8) with Adjehi Baru (Abidjan, Ivory Coast).

The Cougars opened the game in rhythm, earning points on three of their first four possessions and opening the night on 4-of-5 shooting.

After a brief 7-2 Delaware run, Baru pulled down a hard-fought defensive rebound and hustled to the other end where Cameron Johnson (Athens, Ga.) found him cutting to the basket for a powerful two-handed slam.

The two-way play put the Cougars up 18-17 at the seven minute mark, but CofC managed just two baskets in the final five minutes of the half, allowing Delaware to end the half on a 12-4 run and enter the locker room leading 25-21.

The College opened the second half with back-to-back threes by Gilmore and a third by Barry to quickly erase the halftime deficit. At that point CofC was 5-of-7 from behind the arc, but only 2-of-8 would fall for the Cougars the rest of the way.

As the momentum ebbed, the Cougars saw their next eight field goal attempts rattle out, allowing Delaware to stretch a lead to as many as nine at the midway point of the second half.

The resurgent Cougars sparked a 6-0 run fueled by back-to-back baskets by Gilmore to cut the lead to one possession, but an Anderson three-pointer stilled the winds in the Cougars' sails.

The Hens once again stretched their lead to nine, but CofC once again responded. Four different Cougar players contributed to an 8-2 run which cut the deficit back to three, but UD's final five possessions would go to the free throw line, where Delaware converted 8-of-9 down the stretch to secure the result, despite seven points from Chealey in the final minute.  

The game culminated a three-game CofC homestand, with the Cougars set to take to the road to challenge former Southern Conference rival Elon on Wednesday, Jan. 14 at 7 p.m. (ET) in Elon, N.C.

POSTGAME NOTES

• For the first time this season, the Cougars used the starting five of Joe Chealey, Cameron Johnson, Canyon Barry, Donovan Gilmore and Adjehi Baru (0-1). It marked the first career start for Cameron Johnson, who led the team in assists for the second time this season with four against Delaware.

• Delaware won its third-straight in the all-time series and now leads 3-2 with College of Charleston.

• Joe Chealey scored a team-high 17 points to mark his eighth game this season in double figures.

• Canyon Barry has now recorded back-to-back games in double figures with 13 points against the Blue Hens.

• Adjehi Baru registered eight points, eight rebounds and three assists against Delaware. He has now tallied 977 career points to date and is 23 shy of the 1,000-Career Point Club.

• Donovan Gilmore recorded his eighth career game in double figures with 12 points and a team-high tying eight rebounds.

• The Cougars shot 48.9 percent from the floor (23-of-47) versus the Blue Hens, their third-best shooting percentage of the season in a single game and first since a season-best 52.5 percent outing at Charlotte on Dec. 16.

• CofC turned in its second-straight game with only single-digit turnovers (9) – its third-fewest of the season.

POSTGAME QUOTES 

College of Charleston Head Coach Earl Grant

On the game …

“I told my guys that I really believe in them. They have to believe in themselves. Obviously, it hurt not having Anthony Stitt tonight – more than I thought it would. There were times I looked up, I tried to get Joe Chealey out of the game and I couldn't get him out. I felt like we ran out of gas. The stat sheet is a little tricky, because I felt like in every category, we had them beat except for free throws (14-of-21). Anytime you can hold a team to 40 percent field-goal shooting, it's good. When you're shooting 49 percent and you don't turn it over, you think you have a chance to win. There are reasons why I thought we lost the game. Obviously, the margin was small, so it came down to the last four-to-five minutes of the game, where we didn't get some crucial stops and some crucial rebounds. Other than that, I just told the guys they need a day off. We've had four games in the last nine days. We need a day off tomorrow and to get back together on Monday.”

On Anthony Stitt's knee injury …

“It happened in the game against Hofstra. He had his knee scoped two days before the Hofstra game and they (doctors) said they think it might be a meniscus tear. I'm not sure exactly if that is what it is, but on Monday he will get it checked out for sure. He locked up one of his knees after the Hofstra game.”

On the losses, especially when the team has been in it for most of the games thus far …

“I don't like to get caught up in the streak. I get caught up on the next game. I felt like in the Hofstra game, we had made progress. At times, I felt like we had made progress tonight and then late in the game, five minutes and under, when you're down two and you just need to get consecutive stops. That's our only issue right now. We haven't been able to do that in these last two games – crucial stops and crucial rebounds. I take this loss like any other loss – it's a loss. I'm paying more attention to the mindset of these kids and trying to get them up the next day. They've been through a lot, but we have to keep picking them up and keep them believing in themselves and keep moving forward.”

College of Charleston Sophomore Guard Canyon Barry

On the game …

“I think we are executing. We got some good looks and made some shots tonight. I think the big thing is doing the little things night-in and night-out. Some nights we get beat on the boards, some nights we turn the ball over to much, so we need to focus on being consistent day-in and day-out. I think that will take our team to the next level.”

On not getting stops in the last four minutes of the game …

“Yes, we have to be able to get stops down the stretch to convert and win. We had a shot at the end. We can't get down six and expect to win a bunch of games, that's not logical. We just have to keep fighting. I think there is an old parable that portrays our situation perfect. Two mice fell into a bucket of cream. First one drowned, the second one swam so hard he churned it into butter and crawled out and lived. We fell into some cream and can't be the mouse that dies. We have to keep working. I trust my teammates and like Joe (Chealey) said, 'we are all family and are going to stick together through this.'”

College of Charleston Sophomore Guard Joe Chealey

On the close losses …

“There are always positives and negatives you can take away from each game. Of course, when you are in a close game there is probably a lot of good plays that you made to get to that point, but at the same time there is a lot of plays we haven't made and that's what Coach (Grant) is preaching to us. I'm confident we are going to get there. We just have to keep working. We have fallen on tough times, we're scattered and we need to come together. There are going to be some lumps and we are in a lump right now. We just have to keep working and trust that one of these games is going to go our way. I trust my teammates and we trust each other. We are all we have in the locker room, no matter what anybody else says. It's a tough stretch, but it will turn around for us. I'm confident it will.”