College of Charleston
3-20, 1-11
Drexel (Homecoming)
15-8, 7-5
Cougars On A Roll With 22-Point Rout Of Drexel
2/7/2016 12:41:00 AM | Men's Basketball
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Sophomore Cameron Johnson (Athens, Ga.) registered a game-high 16 points to lead College of Charleston to a 60-38 rout of Drexel on Saturday before a CofC Homecoming crowd of 3,456 at TD Arena.
The Cougars (15-8, 7-5 CAA) have now won five of their last six games in Colonial Athletic Association play and split the regular-season series with the Dragons (3-20, 1-11 CAA). They opened the ballgame on a 19-1 run courtesy of three-pointers by freshmen Jarrell Brantley (Columbia, S.C.) and Marquise Pointer (Jonesboro, Ark.) as the Cougars shot 43.5 percent from the field.
Defensively, CofC held Drexel to 23.5 percent shooting from the floor and 16.7 percent shooting from long range including 1-for-17 from the field in the first half.
The Cougars, who rank No. 15 nationally in scoring defense, held the Dragons to 10 first-half points – the lowest production by an opponent this season behind 17 first-half points against preseason Top 25-ranked LSU on Nov. 30 and 15 first-half points at Towson on Jan. 21.
Drexel showed some life early in the second half, gaining on an 11-2 run in which Tavon Allen made a three-pointer, but the Cougars were soon back in control, outscoring them 30-28 in the half.
Brantley was the only other double-figure scorer with 11 points, while redshirt freshman Nick Harris (Dacula, Ga.) fell short of his first career double-double with nine points and a game-high nine rebounds.
The Dragons lost their eighth straight and were led in scoring by Rodney Williams, who had eight.
CofC will return to action with a rematch scheduled against James Madison on Thursday, Feb. 11 at 7:30 p.m. (ET) at TD Arena. The game will be televised live locally on MyTV Charleston. Tickets are still available for purchase by calling (843) 953-COFC or going online at: www.CofCSports.com/tickets
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, junior Payton Hulsey, freshman Jarrell Brantley and redshirt freshman Nick Harris (6-4).
· With the win, College of Charleston takes a 5-4 lead in the all-time series with Drexel. The Cougars split the regular-season series with a 2-1 on their home court versus the Dragons since joining the CAA in 2013.
· CofC has now compiled a 10-3 record at TD Arena this season to mark its first 10-win season at home since the 2012-13 season (11-8).
· Cameron Johnson turned in his 17th double-figure scoring game of the season with a game-high 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor and two three-pointers versus Drexel. He also made a season-and career-high tying four steals. Johnson has reached double figures in six of the last seven games for the Cougars.
· Jarrell Brantley extended his career-best double-digit scoring streak to five games with 11 points in 20 minutes of action versus Drexel.
· Nick Harris had a near double-double performance with nine points and a game-high nine rebounds including a career-best nine on the defensive glass. He has now led the team in rebounding in four games this season.
· Senior walk-on Harrison Bowne and sophomore walk-on John Eck both saw minutes against Drexel. Bowne scored his first point of the season shooting 1-for-2 from the free throw line in a career-high five minutes of play. Eck saw two minutes of play versus the Dragons.
· The Cougars held Drexel to an opponent season-low 23.5 shooting percentage from the floor (8-for-34) including 10 first-half points on 1-for-17 shooting. It marked the lowest first-half production of the season by a CofC opponent behind 17 first-half points against LSU on Nov. 30 and 15 first-half points at Towson on Jan. 21. The Dragons were also held to 16.7 percent shooting from long range (2-for-12) which tied an opponent season low.
POSTGAME QUOTES
College of Charleston Head Coach Earl Grant
On the game and it being a complete game …
“I thought it was a total team effort. The guys played with a lot of energy, passion and togetherness. We defended well. The game was played at our pace in the first half, resulting in 30 points for us. Defensively, we did a good job of paying attention to detail, staying connected with each other and competing hard. We still had a lot of immature mistakes, a handful of turnovers we didn't need to have. But, hey, it's going to happen. I thought the game against Towson was more complete than this one.”
On the team's defense …
“We want to be a good defensive team. That's what we spend a lot of time working on and talking about. Anytime you hold someone to 10 points (in the first half), you don't see that a lot. It's hard to do. I wasn't surprised that they (Drexel) had a hard time scoring. But, I was impressed with the effort our players were putting out and the passion they played with tonight.”
On Nick Harris' play …
“Nick played great tonight. He was one point and one rebound away from a double-double. We intentionally tried to throw the ball to him early to make him get involved.”
College of Charleston Sophomore Guard Cameron Johnson
On the team's defense in the first half …
“It laid the foundation for the entire game. Hands down, our coaches made a great game plan and we went out and executed it to the best of our ability and it showed today.”
On the team's current momentum in conference play …
“It's huge. Coach (Grant) has been counting down, saying 'we have six games left until we go up to Baltimore.' It's coming down to the nitty-gritty. Deeper and deeper we are going to have a better and better record, so we can be seeded higher (in the CAA Tournament). This momentum is huge for us. Right now, it's just fun to go out and win games and kind of just live in the moment and then reflect. It's a process and we are steadying the process.”
College of Charleston Redshirt Freshman Forward Nick Harris
On getting turnovers and being double-teamed …
“I used my length to try and deflect passes out tonight. They (Drexel) are a big team. This time, keeping me and Jarrell (Brantley) out of foul trouble, we started monstering them, and then we monstered double teaming them.”
On the team's foul trouble in the first half and the bench coming in to help …
“(Senior walk-on) Harrison Bowne coming in and playing three minutes. I told him at halftime those were key minutes, because we were all in foul trouble. We had three of our guys on the bench. With us being a man down right now, those minutes were huge for us tonight.”
