CHARLESTON, S.C. – UNCW slipped past College of Charleston, 59-55, in an overtime thriller pitting the Colonial Athletic Association's top scoring offense and top scoring defense on Saturday night at TD Arena.

It was the regular-season home finale for the Cougars (16-11, 8-8) as the first-place Seahawks (21-6, 13-3 CAA) outscored the home team, 10-6, in the extra period.

Trailing 29-21 at halftime, CofC rallied to take a 47-42 lead with 5:29 remaining in regulation on a three-pointer by freshman Marquise Pointer (Jonesboro, Ark.). UNCW's Jordon Talley knocked down a three-pointer and C.J. Bryce had a layup to tie the game back up at 47-all.

Graduate senior James Bourne (Alexandria, Va.), who made his first career start in a Cougar uniform on Senior Night, made a layup to give CofC a 49-47 lead with 2:49 left in the ballgame.

Chris Flemmings sank two free throws to tie with 40 seconds left sending the game into overtime.

Pointer ended the night with a team-high 16 points, while freshman Jarrell Brantley (Columbia, S.C.) and junior Payton Hulsey (Memphis, Tenn.) each turned in a double-double. Brantley had 11 points and a career-high 15 rebounds, while Hulsey registered 12 points and 11 rebounds.

CofC will close out regular-season play on the road next week at Northeastern on Thursday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. (ET) in Boston, Mass., and then Hofstra on Saturday, Feb. 27 at 4 p.m. (ET) in Hempstead, N.Y.

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

POSTGAME NOTES

· College of Charleston went with the starting five of freshman Marquise Pointer, sophomore Cameron Johnson, senior walk-on Harrison Bowne, freshman Jarrell Brantley and graduate senior James Bourne. It marked the first CofC career start for Bowne and Bourne on Senior Night.

· UNCW claimed its sixth-straight victory in the all-time series with College of Charleston. The Seahawks have now evened the all-time series to 10-10. Three of the last six meetings between both schools have gone into overtime including a double-overtime thriller in Wilmington (57-55) in 2014.

· Marquise Pointer led the team in scoring for the seventh time this season with a team-high 16 points with five of the team's eight assists versus UNCW.

· Jarrell Brantley registered his third career double-double with 11 points and a career-and game-high 15 rebounds including a career-best 11 on the defensive end against UNCW. He has now scored in double figures in a career-best nine consecutive games.

· Payton Hulsey recorded his first career double-double with a season-high tying 12 points and 11 rebounds versus UNCW. He also went a career-best 8-for-13 from the free throw line.

· CofC shot a season low 28.8 percent from the field (17-of-59) against the Seahawks, while defensively holding them to only 22.2 percent shooting from long range (4-of-18).

POSTGAME QUOTES

College of Charleston Head Coach Earl Grant

On the game …

“Our guys played their hearts out tonight, especially with that type of effort and that type of energy to claw back and get to overtime. They made the plays (in the second half). My staff and I will take the blame for the loss. We need to do a better job of helping them win that game after all of the effort and character they showed tonight.”

On the team's shooting percentage in overtime …

“We spend a lot of time on shooting (in practice). We are a good shooting team. Our shooters can take shots when they are open and they took some tonight. For whatever reason, the ball didn't fall in for us tonight. The rim was unkind.”

On the team's game plan against UNCW …

“It wasn't anything in particular. It was doing what we do at a high level. That's the same way we have been playing defensively all year. We just have to do a better job offensively.”

College of Charleston Freshman Forward Jarrell Brantley

On the game …

“It was a tough game and we knew what we were fighting for tonight. We didn't capitalize on the chances we had. We played really well and showed a lot of heart and grit. We just have to learn from it. Our team finds a way to learn from every situation we've gone through this year. We will try to finish it the right way the next time it happens to us.”

College of Charleston Freshman Guard Marquise Pointer

On the game …

“We knew it would be a physical game. I think we did a good job of getting rebounds and taking the hits tonight. In overtime, things weren't going our way. We had too many turnovers, which led to their offense. They got fouls and finished the game out the way they were supposed to.”

UNCW Head Coach Kevin Keatts

On the game …

“It was a great boxing match. Give College of Charleston credit. I thought Earl's team played hard. This is a team that is used to scoring and they made us work for every basket tonight.”