COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON (21-8, 12-4 CAA) vs. DELAWARE (12-17, 5-11 CAA)
Game #30
February 23, 2017 • 7:30 p.m. (ET)
TD Arena/John Kresse Court (5,100)
at Charleston, S.C.
 
Television: MyTV Charleston
Radio: College of Charleston Radio Network (ESPN Radio 910 AM)
Series History: Series Tied 5-5                                                                                                            
Last Meeting: CofC def. Delaware, 65-56, on Jan. 2, 2017 in Newark, Del.
Internet: Free Live Statistics at www.CofCStats.com
Live Video: Free Live Video at http://portal.stretchinternet.com/charleston/
Twitter: @CofCBasketball
 
THE COACHES
College of Charleston: Earl Grant
Third Year at CofC: 47-46
Third Year Overall: 47-46
Delaware: Martin Ingelsby
First Year at Delaware: 12-17
First Year Overall: 12-17
 
TELEVISION (MyTV Charleston)
Play-By-Play: Jeff McCarragher
Color Analyst: John Kresse
 
RADIO (College of Charleston Radio Network)
Play-By-Play: Everett German
Color Analyst: Danny Johnson
 
GAME PREVIEW
It's the final countdown to the end of the regular season as the College of Charleston men's basketball team (21-8, 12-4 CAA) vies for a strong finish to catapult the program in the CAA race behind back-to-back road wins last week at Hofstra (76-72) on Feb. 16 and Northeastern (85-71) on Feb. 18. The Cougars remain one game back of UNCW (24-5, 13-3 CAA) in the latest league standings. They will have no easy task with Delaware (12-17, 5-11 CAA) on Thursday, Feb. 23 at 7:30 p.m. (ET) at TD Arena. The game will be televised live locally on MyTV Charleston. While the Blue Hens are in a rebuilding year, so is Drexel (9-20, 3-13 CAA), which CofC will face in the regular-season finale on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 5 p.m. (ET) on Senior Night. The stakes are high for head coach Earl Grant's squad who has already reached 21 wins on the season. One more win would give the program its most in regular-season play (22) since its 2010-11 NIT campaign and 2012-13 CBI campaign. The last time the Cougars won 23 games in the regular season was back in 2008-09 (CBI). Redshirt junior guard Joe Chealey is coming off an impressive week with a 2.67 assist-to-turnover ratio and averaging 23.5 points per game including a game-high 29 at Northeastern.
 
SCOUTING DELAWARE
Delaware has rattled off wins in three of its last four league games with victories over Elon (76-74 OT) on Feb. 9, at James Madison (58-57) on Feb. 11 and Drexel (68-67) on Feb. 16. The Blue Hens had their three-game win streak halted by William & Mary (85-64) on Feb. 18. They will close out the season on the road at CofC and Elon.
 
GAME PROMOTIONS
College of Charleston Athletics will host a Maroon Out Game on Thursday. Free maroon T-Shirts will given out to the first 1,000 students and an additional 200 thrown out to the crowd during the game. Also, free maroon rally towels will be passed out to fans as well as David Aylor Law Office cups. CofC Athletics celebrates Education Appreciation Night at TD Arena. Stall High School Band and Steel Drum Band will be on site to entertain fans. Tickets are still available for purchase by calling (843) 953-COFC or online at: www.CofCSports.com/tickets
 
SUPER FROSH
College of Charleston and Delaware feature the Top 2 freshmen in the league in guards Grant Riller and Ryan Daly, who are both contenders for CAA Rookie of the Year honors. Riller is third among CAA freshmen in scoring averaging 14.0 points per game, while Daly is first (15.4 ppg). However, in league games only, Riller is averaging 17.1 points per game for seventh-best in the league overall and Daly 18.0 ppg (5th). Of the 18 CAA Rookie of the Week awards that have been handed out this season, Riller has won four and Daly six. Riller is on a career-best 13-game double-digit scoring streak scoring 20-or-more points in a game on eight occasions.
 
COUGARS ON THE AIRWAVES
Fans can listen to all CofC men's basketball games throughout the 2016-17 season on ESPN Radio 910 AM in Charleston or via a live audio link at: www.charlestonsportsradio.com. Voice of the Cougars Everett German will call the action live with color analyst Danny Johnson from TD Arena on the College of Charleston Radio Network.
 
PROJECTED COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON STARTERS
#13 Joe Chealey, G, 6-4, 195, RS-Jr. (17.2 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 3.1 apg, 33.7 min)
#1 Grant Riller, G, 6-3, 185, RS-Fr. (14.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 1.1 apg, 26.6 min)
#12 Cameron Johnson, G, 6-4, 200, Jr. (6.6 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.9 apg, 31.4 min)
#5 Jarrell Brantley, F, 6-7, 250, So. (13.6 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 1.3 apg, 31.8 min)
#23 Nick Harris, F, 6-10, 250, So. (5.9 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 0.3 apg, 24.4 min)
 
PROJECTED DELAWARE STARTERS
#3 Anthony Mosley, G, 6-1, 180, Jr. (9.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2.5 apg, 29.2 min)
#00 Ryan Daly, G, 6-4, 185, Fr. (15.4 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 1.8 apg, 32.8 min)
#4 Darian Bryant, G, 6-4, 200, RS-So. (7.6 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.8 apg, 26.9 min)
#5 Eric Carter, F, 6-9, 225, RS-So. (5.8 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 1.4 apg, 20.1 min)
#35 Jacob Cushing, F, 6-8, 210, Fr. (1.9 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 0.2 apg, 11.8 min)
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
The College of Charleston-Delaware series is tied 5-5 after the Cougars claimed their first-ever road win (65-56) on Jan. 2 in Newark, Del. Eight of the 10 all-time meetings between the two programs have been decided by six points-or-less with the exception of an 80-55 rout of the Blue Hens in the championship game of the CofC Classic on Dec. 22, 1998. The Cougars have won three of the last four meetings with UD.
 
LAST 10 GAMES IN THE SERIES
W, 65-56 (+9) on Jan. 2, 2017 in Newark, Del.
W, 67-63 (+4) on March 4, 2016 in Baltimore, Md.^
L, 59-62 (-3) on Feb. 18, 2016 in Newark, Del.
W, 59-58 (+1) on Jan. 23, 2016 in Charleston, S.C.
L, 68-71 (-3) on Jan. 31, 2015 in Newark, Del.
L, 58-64 (-6) on Jan. 10, 2015 in Charleston, S.C.
L, 86-89 (-3) on March 1, 2014 in Charleston, S.C.
L, 64-67 (-3) on Feb. 5, 2014 in Newark, Del.
W, 80-75 (+5) on Dec. 21, 2000 in Charleston, S.C.
W, 80-55 (+25) on Dec. 22, 1998 in Charleston, S.C.
^ CAA Tournament
 
NORTHEASTERN RECAP
College of Charleston 85, Northeastern 71
• College of Charleston split the regular-season series with Northeastern and claimed only their second-ever road win in Boston since joining the CAA in 2013. The Cougars also snapped a two-game skid in the series.
• The Cougars compiled a 10-4 record on the road this season (7-2 against CAA opponents) – their first 10-win record on the road since 2012-13.
• Joe Chealey recorded a game-high 29 points and season-high tying seven rebounds at Northeastern and has now scored 20-or-more points in a single game this season on 10 occasions. He has now tabulated 1,091 career points to date which moved him into a tied for 31st on the all-time scoring list with former CofC standout Anthony Stitt (2011-15). Chealey is on an 11-game double-digit scoring streak in conference play.
• Grant Riller also turned in his eighth outing with 20-or-more points in a single game with 21 points at Northeastern. He is on a 13-game double-digit scoring streak in league play.
• Jarrell Brantley registered a season-high 21 points and seven rebounds at Northeastern. It marked his fourth career 20-point game.
• The College shot a season-best 62.7 percent (32-of-51) from the field at Northeastern.  It marked the Cougars' third-straight game to shoot better than 50% in a game.
• The Cougars drained a season-high 12 three-pointers at Northeastern eclipsing a previous season-best of 10 three-pointers at Western Carolina on Dec. 22.
• CofC scored 85 points at Northeastern – the second-most points of the season behind 90 points at Drexel on Jan. 28.
 
COUGAR SOUND BITES
"We want to go on the road and play well. We had two tough road tests – one in New York and the other one up in Boston. We played well and did some really good things on offense. We got enough defensive stops and played with a lot of energy. It's good to come back home for the final two games. Hopefully, we will have  really good crowd to support our guys on Thursday and Saturday." – College of Charleston Head Coach Earl Grant on winning two on the road to build on the momentum going into the final two-game stretch
 
"The big thing is at the end of the day, we shouldn't be in a relaxed mode. We haven't reached our destination yet. It's more important about the team we are than the team we are playing next. We are trying to play our best basketball at the end. As far as Delaware, we have to get back in transition and make sure their guards don't get easy baskets. We need to make them go against our set D to the best of our ability. They have a really good kid in the post, so our post defense needs to be sharp and we have to defensive rebound. If we can play to our standards, it won't matter who we play. We feel that we have a great opportunity to be successful." – Coach Grant on playing the two last-place teams in the league in Delaware and Drexel to end the season
 
"It's very important to us to finish strong before the big week next weekend (at the CAA Tournament). It's a huge difference, because you want to go into the CAA Tournament playing your best basketball. Delaware is a good team and they have a couple of good guards. We just have to come out, play hard, stick to our game plan and play to our standards, defensively and offensively." – Redshirt Freshman Guard Grant Riller on finishing the season strong with two regular-season games remaining