HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (AP) – Joe Chealey scored 18 points, including three late free throws, and the College of Charleston held off Hofstra's late rally for a 76-72 victory on Thursday night.
 
Charleston (20-8, 11-4 CAA) snapped a two-game skid and remains a game back of conference leader UNC Wilmington. Hofstra (13-15, 5-10 CAA) has lost two of its last three.
 
Charleston closed on a 10-3 surge for a 40-34 halftime lead. The Cougars stretched it to 64-49 midway through the second half, and had a 10-point lead with 5:45 remaining.
 
Hofstra used a 16-5 run, capped by Brian Bernardi's 3-pointer, to pull to 73-72 with 16 seconds left. Chealey made 1 of 2 free throws, Nick Harris blocked a shot on the Pride's next possession, and Chealey hit two more from the line to end it.
 
Justin Wright-Foreman scored 26 points and Bernardi had 21 to lead Hofstra. Rokas Gustys added 16 points and 12 rebounds.
 
The Cougars will travel to Northeastern (14-13, 7-8 CAA) for a Saturday, Feb. 18 rematch at 1 p.m. (ET) at Matthews Arena in Boston, Mass.
 
POSTGAME NOTES

• College of Charleston claimed its first-ever road win in the all-time series with Hofstra since joining the CAA in 2013. The Cougars and Pride are now tied 4-4 in the series. CofC also swept the regular-season series for the first time.
• With the win, the Cougars turned in the program's first 20-win campaign since 2012-13. For the second year in a row, they are among the Most Improved teams in NCAA Division I under third-year head coach Earl Grant.
• Joe Chealey recorded a team-high 18 points including 13 in the second half of play at Hofstra. He now has tabulated 1,062 career points to date and is on a 10-game double-digit scoring streak. Chealey also dished out six assists against the Pride.
• Jarrell Brantley registered 17 points and has now scored in double figures in 24-of-28 games of the season. He also added a season-high tying three steals at Hofstra.
• Grant Riller extended his double-digit scoring streak to 12-consecutive games in league play with 12 points at Hofstra.
• Marquise Pointer came off the bench and was one of four double-figure scorers for the Cougars with 10 points. It was his third double-digit game of the season.
• The Cougars outrebounded the Pride, 35-25, behind a team-high six boards from Nick Harris.
• For the second-straight game, CofC shot better than 50 percent from the floor (54.5%).

POSTGAME QUOTES
College of Charleston Head Coach Earl Grant
On the game …
"I'm so excited and happy for our guys. This is the third time we've come up to Hofstra and we never won here. Today, it was a big deal for us, because it was our first. I was so excited we had so many guys contribute and give so much effort. We had a lot of effort plays against Hofstra. I thought that was a huge difference in the game."
 
On the team's bench play …
"I made my mind up that I really wanted to try to trust our bench. Last week, we talked so much about trust – that we made sure we trusted our principles on defense, trusted the process and trusted each other. I wanted to be the first one to show a sign of trust by getting the young guys in early in the game. I wanted to make sure to sub guys and give our young guys minutes that we usually don't give them. I made my mind up whether we were up 10 (points) or down 4, I was going to get different guys in the game and make sure we didn't play a lot of players 38 minutes. Tonight, it was a total team effort and I'm proud of our guys."