GREENVILLE, N.C. – College of Charleston used an impressive defensive effort to roll to its fifth-straight win of the season in a 53-35 rout of East Carolina on Thursday night at Minges Coliseum.
 
The Cougars (8-3) and Pirates (7-4) entered the ballgame as two of the Top 20 teams in the country in scoring defense. And as expected, a low-scoring first half ensued as Charleston shot 35.5 percent from the field and ECU 19.0%.
 
Grant Riller, Marquise Pointer, Cameron Johnson and Nick Harris combined for the team's 23 first-half points, while East Carolina was held to just 13.
 
Joe Chealey scored all of his game-high 14 points in the second half as the Cougars jumped out to a 19-0 run. The Pirates, who suffered their first home loss of the season, did not score a basket until a layup by Jeremy Sheppard, 42-15, with 12:34 remaining in regulation.
 
ECU made its own run in the second half and chipped away at the double-digit lead. The Pirates got within 11 with 2:50 left in the contest, 46-35, but Charleston held on for the road victory behind free throws down the stretch from Chealey and Jarrell Brantley, who turned in 11 points and eight rebounds.
 
It marked the fewest points scored by a Charleston opponent in the program's NCAA Division I history.
 
The Cougars continue their road travel during the winter break at LSU on Monday, Dec. 19 at 8 p.m. (ET) / 7 p.m. (CT) in Baton Rouge, La. The game will be televised on SEC Network+.
 
POSTGAME NOTES

• College of Charleston now leads 3-1 in the all-time series with East Carolina and picked up its first road win in Greenville, N.C. The Cougars last played on the road at ECU (L, 51-65) in 1990.
• The Cougars are on a five-game winning streak, which matches a five-game winning streak last season against Western Carolina, LSU, The Citadel, East Carolina and North Greenville.
• Joe Chealey recorded a game-high 14 points including a 6-for-6 performance from the free throw line. It marked his fourth time this season to shoot perfect from the charity stripe in a game.
• Jarrell Brantley turned in a near double-double with 11 points and eight rebounds at East Carolina.
• Nick Harris brought down a career-high tying 13 rebounds including a season-high seven on the offensive end at East Carolina.
• The Cougars held ECU to a season-low 35 points – the fewest points scored by an opponent in the program's NCAA Division I history since the 1991-92 season. The previous low by an opponent was 37 points vs. Furman on Feb. 10, 2001 and at Towson on Jan. 21, 2016.
• CofC also held the Pirates to an opponent season-low 23.4 percent shooting from the field (11-of-47) and 12.5 percent shooting from beyond the arc (2-for-16).

POSTGAME QUOTES
College of Charleston Head Coach Earl Grant
On the road win …
"Our guys came out with a lot of energy tonight. Our approach was great starting with shootaround today and our last two practices. We beat a good team in East Carolina. (ECU Head Coach) Jeff Lebo is doing a great job and they are off to a good start. We made it hard each and every possession for them. We didn't look at the scoreboard a whole lot. We just made sure we had good possessions. That's how we held them to 13 points in the first half – by playing really hard on the defensive end of the ball. I'm proud of our guys with the energy and effort they came out with tonight."
 
On holding ECU's top scorers to few points in the ballgame …
"We knew B.J. Tyson and Caleb White were capable and fantastic players. Caleb made six of his 10 points in the first half. We wanted to contest each shot, no mater who it was. They had a hard time scoring over our high hands. It was a total team effort tonight."