CHARLESTON, S.C. – Jarrell Brantley recorded his second-straight double-double performance to lead College of Charleston to a 80-67 regular-season finale win over Drexel on Saturday night at TD Arena.
 
Brantley registered a game-high 22 points and 10 rebounds as the Cougars swept the Dragons (9-21, 3-14 CAA) in the regular season for the first time since becoming members of the Colonial Athletic Association in 2013. He also added a career-high tying four steals.
 
It was the Cougars' fourth-straight win in league play as they finished the regular season at 23-8 overall under third-year head coach Earl Grant and 14-4 in the CAA.
 
Brantley was one of three double-figure scorers for CofC next to Joe Chealey with 16 points and Cameron Johnson with 14 points.
 
The Cougars led 36-26 at halftime and turned in their fourth-highest scoring output of the season (80 points) of which 27 came from the free throw line.
 
Kurk Lee led the Dragons with 13 points as they could see the No. 2-seeded Cougars again next week at the 2017 CAA Men's Basketball Championship to be held on March 3-6 at the North Charleston Coliseum.
 
CofC will face the winner of No. 7 seed James Madison or No. 10 seed Drexel in the quarterfinals on Saturday, March 4 at 6 p.m. (ET). Tickets can be purchased online at: www.Ticketmaster.com.
 
POSTGAME NOTES

• With the win, College of Charleston now leads 7-4 in the all-time series with Drexel. The Cougars swept the regular-season series for the first time since joining the Colonial in 2013.
• College of Charleston also turned in a 23-win regular-season – the program's first since winning 23 games in the regular season back during the 2008-09 CBI campaign.
• Jarrell Brantley turned in his 14th career double-double in back-to-back game with a game-and season-high 22 points and 10 rebounds against Drexel. It was his ninth double-double of the season. He also added a career-high tying four steals.
• Joe Chealey extended his double-digit scoring streak to a career-best 13-straight games with 16 points against Drexel.
• Cameron Johnson registered his sixth double-figure scoring game with 14 points and five rebounds versus Drexel.

POSTGAME QUOTES
College of Charleston Head Coach Earl Grant
On going into the conference tournament with a four-game win streak …
"We talked about finishing the second season and playing our best basketball at the end. The season is broken up into three parts. The non-conference, the conference season and the postseason with the postseason conference tournament. We have made some strides and we have improved. We have a week to make some adjustments and try to figure out what are the things that we need to do to give us the best chance to be successful. We have to tighten everything we do. There's a method to our madness. When we make a mistake, we know it. Next week, we will tighten up all of our standards and trust our defensive principles. The last four games, we have played really good basketball for about 32 to 33 minutes. Now, our goal is to get closer to 40."
 
On the program's turnaround …
"We were in a dark valley early on. We are not at the mountaintop yet. God really blessed us. This year, we stayed healthy. He sent us high-character players. We have been very fortunate. I have a great staff and good players. We are just excited that we are not in the valley like we were. This program has great history and they've done unbelievable things."
 
College of Charleston Sophomore Forward Jarrell Brantley
On the game …
"Every game is different. You have to go and take the punches – go with it. We made it to the free throw line a few good amount of times. We should have knocked down more of them."
 
On the team playing their best basketball right now …
"I wouldn't say we are playing our best, but we are really special. We will keep making jumps and keep growing. The one thing about this team, we are all willing to grow and get better. We definitely feel we have some momentum going into the tournament. I think with the team that we have, no matter what our record would be, we would go into it (conference tournament) with momentum, because we are so confident with one another. We have a special team this year."
 
College of Charleston Junior Guard Cameron Johnson
On going into the CAA Tournament on a four-game win streak …
"It's very important to go in with momentum. During the tournament anyone can win. It's good that we have a mental edge heading into the conference tournament. We got a win tonight and we didn't make too many mistakes. We still have to improve on some of our stuff. After playing this game, we feel good about ourselves. Shout out to the all the seniors, we played for them tonight. It was a big win."