CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) – Jarrell Brantley and James Bourne stepped up with key blocked shots in the final seconds to preserve College of Charleston's 57-56 victory over Western Carolina on Friday at TD Arena.

Brantley scored a career-high 17 points and blocked a 3-point try by Deriece Parks with five seconds left. Western Carolina grabbed the rebound but when Torrion Brummit, who led the Catamounts (2-3) with 18 points, tried a turnaround jumper, Bourne blocked it as time expired. It was Bourne's only block of the game. Brantley had three.

It was the first meeting between the two teams since Charleston (3-2) left the Southern Conference for the Colonial Athletic Association after the 2012-13 season.

Canyon Barry scored 13 points and Marquise Pointer added 12 for Charleston. Pointer hit two 3-pointers in the final minutes to pull the Cougars back into contention and made the second of two free throws for the lead with 11 seconds left.

The Cougars snapped a two-game skid going into a much-anticipated home game with No. 22-ranked LSU and projected No. 1 NBA Draft pick Ben Simmons on Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. (ET) at TD Arena. Tickets are still available for purchase by calling (843) 953-COFC or buying them online at: www.CofCSports.com/tickets.

For more information on College of Charleston Basketball, follow the Cougars on Twitter at @CofCBasketball.

POSTGAME NOTES

· Junior Payton Hulsey, junior Canyon Barry, sophomore Cameron Johnson, sophomore Donovan Gilmore and freshman Jarrell Brantley (2-2) have now started in all five games of the season for the Cougars (3-2).

· College of Charleston extended its win streak to four-straight games in the all-time series with Western Carolina. It was the first meeting between both former Southern Conference rivals since the quarterfinals of the 2013 SoCon Tournament in Asheville, N.C.

· Jarrell Brantley knocked down a career-high 17 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the field and 7-of-11 shooting from the free throw line against Western Carolina. He also led the team in rebounds (7), blocks (3) and steals (3).

· Marquise Pointer also recorded a career-high 12 points and dished out four of the team's nine assists in the ballgame.

· Canyon Barry has now scored in double figures in four of the last five games for the Cougars with 13 points versus Western Carolina.

· The Cougars made a season-high 10 steals behind Brantley's three and two each from Cameron Johnson and Marquise Pointer.

· CofC's newcomers combined for 33 of the team's 57 points in the ballgame.

· Western Carolina committed an opponent season-high 24 turnovers against the CofC defense which held its third opponent of the season to under 60 points.

POSTGAME QUOTES

College of Charleston Head Coach Earl Grant

On having two young guys leading the team down the stretch …

“It was a gutsy effort by our team. It was about as ugly an offensive half that you could have. For whatever reason, we couldn't make a shot, couldn't get a foul and couldn't make a layup. We kept pleading to our guys to keep playing defense – one thing they could depend on. Marquise (Pointer) and Jarrell (Brantley) made some huge plays and played a lot of minutes for us. However, they couldn't have done it without their teammates. We found a way to gut it out, but still have a lot of work to do. I think our guys are fighters and I'm really proud of them.”

College of Charleston Freshman Forward Jarrell Brantley

On the end-of-the-game plays …

“We were talking to each other the whole time through. We were aligned with each other and trusted each other. We knew we had to stay locked-in and focused. We had to find a way to win and knew we had to find something to get us through – and we did (down the stretch).”

On the team's scoring lag in the first eight minutes of the second half …

“We had good shots. We had a few plays where we didn't catch the ball. For the most part, our shooters were shooting good shots and we were getting layups. We just couldn't finish them.”

College of Charleston Freshman Guard Marquise Pointer

On the end-of-the-game plays …

“We all stuck together. We weren't worried about offense. We were more concerned about getting stops on defense – staying tough throughout the game and to be able to fight through adversity.”