College of Charleston
7-18, 2-10
Drexel (Homecoming)
9-14, 7-5
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drexel | 27 | 32 | 59 |
| Col. of Charleston | 18 | 27 | 45 |
Cougars Upended By Dragons, 59-45
2/8/2015 2:39:00 AM | Men's Basketball
CofC Athletics Communications
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The College of Charleston men's basketball team was unable to overcome an inauspicious shooting night in an eventual 59-45 loss to Drexel in Colonial Athletic Association play held on Saturday night at TD Arena.
There was no lack of effort on the part of the Cougars (7-18, 2-10 CAA), as they controlled many of the hard-nosed stats such as offensive boards (16-3), second-chance points (11-1) and steals (5-3). CofC was undone mostly from behind the arc as Drexel (9-14, 7-5 CAA) poured in 27 points on treys (9-of-15), while the Cougars failed to convert from three-point land (0-for-11).
In his second game back from injury, senior floor general Anthony Stitt (Charlotte, N.C.) led the Cougars with 15 points, dropping 10 in the second half, but scoring was generally arduous for the Cougars as would-be quality looks continued to rattle out of a seemingly restrictive rim.
The shooting troubles befell the Cougars from the onset, as they missed 13 of their first 14 tries from the floor, a dry spell which included 12-straight misses.
Despite the lack of scoring, the Cougars' play at the other end kept them in the game. CofC kept Drexel off the scoreboard for three-plus minutes on two occasions, cutting the deficit to three in the process, but four-straight Drexel makes extended it back to double digits around the two-minute mark of the first half.
Stitt snagged an offensive rebound and made a tough basket from underneath in the final minute, drawing a foul in the process and converting the free throw to cut the Dragons' lead back to single digits, 27-18, at the break.
CofC shot just 20 percent (6-of-30) in the opening half, but it was its stingy play in the defensive end that kept the deficit manageable.
The shooting woes continued into the second half, as the Cougars' first five looks rattled out, allowing Drexel to open the half on a 5-0 run. Freshman Cameron Johnson (Athens, Ga.) made a floater through traffic while drawing contact, and his ensuing free-throw conversion temporarily stopped the Drexel run.
The Dragons went six of their next seven, however, including three shots from behind the arc, allowing them to stretch a 16-point lead around the midway point of the second half of play.
Throughout the second half, all of CofC's scoring-run attempts were seemingly thwarted by Drexel's long-range shooting, as the Dragons went 4-of-5 (80 percent) from three.
The Cougars upped their second-half shooting to 40-percent (29-percent for the game), but Drexel bettered that effort with a 58-percent effort in the second half (49-percent for the game).
The Dragons, who won their fifth straight, were led in scoring by a game-high 18 from Tavon Allen, while the CAA's leading scorer Damion Lee was held to just 12 points.
CofC will next travel to UNCW for a mid-week conference clash on Wednesday, Feb. 11 at 7 p.m. (ET) in Wilmington, N.C.
POSTGAME NOTES
• For the eighth time this season, the Cougars went with the starting five of Joe Chealey, Cameron Johnson, Canyon Barry, Donovan Gilmore and Adjehi Baru (2-6).
• Drexel won both regular-season games versus College of Charleston in CAA play to even the all-time series between the two schools to 3-3.
• Anthony Stitt came off the bench in his second game back after being sidelined for seven contests with a knee injury and scored a team-high 15 points versus Drexel. He has now tabulated 1,053 career points to date.
• Joe Chealey extended his double-digit scoring streak to a season-best, four-straight games with 11 points against Drexel.
• Donovan Gilmore made a career-high two of the team's five blocked shots in the ballgame.
• CofC shot a conference season-low 29.1 percent from the floor (16-of-55) against the Dragons, but went 13-of-18 from the free throw line, which was the third-best percentage this season from charity (72.2%).
• Defensively, the Cougars held the nation's fifth-best leading scorer Damion Lee of Drexel to under his scoring average (21.5 ppg) with 12 points on 3-of-12 shooting from the field.
• CofC outrebounded its opponents for the 10th time this season and fifth time in the last six games, 35-30 (+5).
• The Cougars went a season-low 0-for-11 from the three-point line against Drexel. Their previous game-low was 1-for-10 against Davidson in the Southern Conference championship game on March 11, 2013 in Asheville, N.C.
POSTGAME QUOTES
College of Charleston Head Coach Earl Grant
On the game …
“I thought we had a lot of opportunities to score the ball around the basket. I told the guys I couldn't fault their effort. They had 16 offensive rebounds. Drexel had three and we had 16. That's an effort stat. That means we're working hard, trying to get loose balls. We didn't make shots. We had 2 vs. 1 and 3 vs. 1 in transition. It's almost like we looked for the foul. They don't foul and we miss. We're a good three-point shooting team and it wasn't our day. We went 0-for-11. To be honest with you, eight out of the 11 were open. It wasn't an effort issue, but it's still disappointing. We know we have work to do. We really don't have a lot of answers for what happened with our shooting today, because it's just one of the days that we didn't make any of our shots.”
On taking Drexel deep into the shot clock and contested shots still going in for them …
“They (Drexel) made about five contested shots. They had a great night and we didn't have a great night. This is the same team that just scored 80 (points against William & Mary). We haven't had a lot of success, and to be honest with you, I was wondering how we would respond after that win with such a short turnaround. We will continue to keep building. Give Drexel credit. They made shots with hands in their faces, and we didn't, for whatever reason.”
College of Charleston Senior Guard Anthony Stitt
On the game …
“They (Drexel) were 9-for-15 from the three-point line and going into the game, we knew they were not a great shooting team. But, they came out, had confidence early and were able to make some shots, which got their offense going. Looking at our stats, we were 0-for-11 from the three-point line. If had been able to finish around the basket more, that would've given us a little confidence – a little rhythm to be able to make those shots.”
College of Charleston Sophomore Guard Joe Chealey
On getting good looks, but not being able to finish …
“We just have to stick it in and be tougher. It takes a lot of mental toughness to come back from a loss, but I think it takes a lot more mental toughness to come back off a win. We are trying to figure it out right now. We are trying to figure out how to put a whole game together. We are still learning and I know we will figure it out.”
On the Drexel defense presenting any challenges or was it just a bad-shooting night for the team …
“We got great looks at the basket. We had some easy ones and wide-open, inside-out threes. We got what we wanted. You have to give them (Drexel) credit. They made shots and we didn't, and that's what it ultimately came down to tonight.”
