ELON, N.C. (AP) – Jarrell Brantley scored a season-high 19 points with nine rebounds as College of Charleston beat Elon, 66-54, on Saturday in a Colonial Athletic Association opener for both teams.
 
Brantley had 12 points in the first half to help Charleston build a 35-25 lead. The Cougars, one of the top defensive teams in the country, didn't allow a made field goal in the second half until the 13:32 mark as they opened on an 11-0 run – with scoring from five different players – for a 21-point lead.
 
Joe Chealey added 10 points with six assists for the Cougars (10-4, 1-0 CAA), while freshman Chevez Goodwin scored eight points and set a career high with six rebounds in 18 minutes off the bench.
 
The Cougars made seven three-pointers in the first half, but were just 1-of-10 in the second.
 
Tyler Seibring had 14 points and seven rebounds for Elon (8-6), which was just 3-of-20 from three-point range.
 
Winners of the last seven out of eight, CofC will close out a five-game road swing at Delaware (7-7, 0-1 CAA) on Monday, Jan. 2 at 6 p.m. (ET) in Newark, Del.
 
POSTGAME NOTES

• With the win, College of Charleston now leads 17-6 in the all-time series with Elon. This was the first game in the last three contests between both schools that was not decided in single digits (+12). CofC has also won the last four-straight road games at Elon in the series.
• Jarrell Brantley recorded a season-high 19 points and nine rebounds at Elon. He scored a season-best 12 points in the first half alone. Brantley has registered double figures in 13-of-14 games this season.
• Joe Chealey dished out a season-high six assists at Elon – one short of his career-high outing in a single game (7). He also added 10 points.
• Chevez Goodwin turned in a career-and season-high tying eight points, career-best six rebounds and two block shots in only 17 minutes off the bench at Elon.
• The Cougars drained a season-best tying seven three-pointers (7-of-15) in the first half. They previously made 7-of-14 in the first half at Western Carolina on Dec. 22.
• The CofC defense held Elon, ranked No. 19 in the nation in three-point field goals per game, to its worst shooting percentage of the season from long range (3-of-20) and third-lowest shooting percentage from the field (38.9%). The Cougars also held the Phoenix without a point in the second half until the 13:32 minute mark.

POSTGAME QUOTES
College of Charleston Head Coach Earl Grant
On the game …
"We had a good start to the game and came out with a sense of urgency. We played really hard on the defensive end – by rebounding well. We made some perimeter shots that gave us an opportunity to have a gap in the game, so we were able to play more freely. We had four great days to practice on defense and offense. Any time you have four days of practice without games, that's when you get better to play an opponent. The win was a testament of our preparation. We had four-straight days to work on both sides of the ball. It showed in today's game."
 
On the offense clicking during the team's road stretch …
"The guys are starting to understand who is on the floor with our rotations and combinations. We have two starting guards who didn't play a game last year. They are starting to figure where their spots are and where they are going to find their shots in the offense. Another reason is we are making a couple of more shots. We work on our shooting in practice a lot and it's starting to show up in our games. When we make two-or-more threes, all of sudden we have nine more points and our offense is good. I always knew if we could score in the mid-60s and low-70s every game, we would have a chance to win."
 
On the play of Jarrell Brantley …
"He's really confident and a gym rat. He is always in the gym working. He wants to be good. Most of the time, they say you see a jump from your freshman to sophomore years. He's really made a big jump. I'm really proud of him. He only had one turnover tonight. As aggressive as he was attacking the basket and all that he did for us, to only have one turnover in the minutes he played, was impressive."