ROB WASHBURN
CAASports.com

BALTIMORE, Md. – UNCW recovered from a 16-point first-half deficit and held off College of Charleston for a 66-64 victory in the quarterfinals of the Colonial Athletic Association Men's Basketball Championship held on Saturday night at Royal Farms Arena.

The second-seeded Seahawks, who improved to 23-7 overall, advanced to Sunday's CAA Semifinals, while the seventh-seeded Cougars fell to 17-14 overall and awaits the possibility of postseason play.

UNCW led 65-61 but Charleston came within a point with 47.1 seconds to go after freshman forward Jarrell Brantley (Columbia, S.C.) hit one free throw and a layup. After a defensive stop, the Cougars went inside the paint, but redshirt junior guard Denzel Ingram forced a CofC turnover, giving it to UNCW with five seconds remaining. The Seahawks went 1-for-2 at the free throw line, and with a chance to tie it, Brantley's jumper was off the mark at the buzzer.

The Seahawks were led by redshirt sophomore forward Marcus Bryan, who scored a team-best 16 points off the bench on 8-of-10 shooting. Redshirt junior guard Chris Flemmings hit three treys to contribute 13 points while freshman guard C.J. Bryce added nine points and eight rebounds.

Sophomore guard Cameron Johnson (Athens, Ga.) paced the Cougars with a game-high 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting, while making a trio of three-pointers. Brantley notched 15 points and tied Bryce for game-high honors with eight rebounds. Junior reserve forward Terrance O'Donohue (Norcross, Ga.) and freshman guard Marquise Pointer (Jonesboro, Ark.) chipped in a season-high nine and eight points respectively.

UNCW shot 48 percent (24-50) from the floor overall, but went 7-of-12 from three-point range in the second half after going 0-of-6 from three in the first 20 minutes.

Charleston finished the game at 42 percent (20-48) shooting overall from the field. The Cougars were 7-of-9 from three-point range in the first half, but went 0-for-5 from beyond the arc in the second.

UNCW controlled the glass by a 32-28 margin and both teams capitalized on turnovers as the College of Charleston held a 21-20 edge in points off of turnovers.

The first half produced three ties and five lead changes early, but the Cougars opened up a sizable lead with a 19-4 run that spanned a little more than five minutes to take a 37-21 advantage. The Cougars connected on three treys and had five second-chance points, while UNCW went 1-for-6 from the floor and had three turnovers during the stretch. The Seahawks stopped the run with three-straight field goals, but a Charleston trey with four seconds left gave the Cougars a 40-27 halftime lead.

After missing all six three-point attempts in the first half, UNCW stormed out of the locker room, making six straight from beyond the arc to open the stanza on a 22-3 run and grab a 49-43 lead less than five minutes in. Flemmings hit all three of his triples and scored 11 of the team's 22 while the stretch was capped off by back-to-back threes from Ingram.

The Cougars answered with a 10-1 run to recapture the lead at 53-50 with 10:48 to play. After tying the game three times, the Seahawks regained the lead for good at 58-57 on a traditional three-point play by Bryce with 6:39 left in regulation.

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

POSTGAME NOTES

· College of Charleston started freshman Marquise Pointer, sophomore Cameron Johnson, junior transfer Payton Hulsey, freshman Jarrell Brantley and freshman Nick Harris (8-9).

· UNCW takes a one-game advantage, 11-10, in the all-time series with College of Charleston. The Seahawks have now won the last seven-straight contests between the two Coastal schools including back-to-back meetings in the CAA Quarterfinals. Four of the last seven games in the series have been decided by four points or less.

· CofC is now 2-2 all-time in CAA tournament games under second-year head coach Earl Grant. The Cougars have won back-to-back first-round contests against Drexel in 2015 and Delaware in 2016.

· All-CAA Third Team selection Cameron Johnson notched a career-high tying 21 points against UNCW and has reached double figures in 22-of-31 games this season. He also went a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line.

· CAA Rookie of the Year Jarrell Brantley extended his career-best double-digit scoring streak to 13-straight games with 15 points versus UNCW. He also had a near double-double with a game-high tying eight rebounds.

· Payton Hulsey dished out a game-high five assists to turn in a 100+ assist season (103).

· After missing the last nine regular-season games in conference play due to a shoulder injury, junior reserve Terrance O'Donohue came off the bench and registered a season-high nine points in 14 minutes of action against UNCW.

· The Cougars scored 40 first-half points versus the Seahawks – the most against a CAA opponent this season in regular season and postseason play combined.

POSTGAME QUOTES

College of Charleston Head Coach Earl Grant

On the game and future …

“We played well enough to win tonight. At the start of the second half, you have to give credit to UNC Wilmington. They made a barrage of threes. We had the game at our pace, but they made a few more plays than us and it came down to one possession. At the end of the day, we look at this whole process like we are climbing a mountain. We've been in the valley – deep down in there and know how it feels. We have a lot of work to do to get to the top of the mountain. But, we look at it as a climb. Whatever is next, we will attack it the right away and try to get better. I love how hard our guys played all year. I never questioned their effort. They always competed and defended. I do believe we have a chance to do something special if we continue to grow and get better as a group.”

On the end-of-the-game plan …

“We got all of the looks we wanted down the stretch. We wanted to get the ball into Cameron Johnson's hands first and our second option was throw it over the top to Jarrell Brantley. It was a great shot inside the free throw line and almost went in. It was perfect for us.”

College of Charleston Freshman Forward Jarrell Brantley

On the game …

“Right now, I'm thinking about the game and what I could've down better in the game to help my team win. If I continue to develop, I feel like I can be in the right positions next year to do so. They (UNCW) made the right plays down the stretch and played really good defensively.”

College of Charleston Sophomore Guard Cameron Johnson

On another close CAA Tournament game …

“It definitely makes it a lot harder when you feel like you had the game in hand down the stretch. In postseason play, you hold your own destiny. If we had gotten blown out (by UNCW), it would have been a lot different. But, a loss is a loss.”

On the team's bright future …

“We really just take it one day at a time. It's a loss, but just a minor setback for us. We continue to get better every year. Just like my freshman year to this year. The future is bright.”