Photo Credit: Tim Cowie Photography
 
ELON, N.C. – A three-point attempt by Joe Chealey bounced off the rim with six seconds left as Elon held off College of Charleston, 63-58, on Saturday night at Alumni Gym.
 
The Phoenix (12-7, 4-2 CAA) bounced back from an overtime loss to UNCW on Thursday night behind Steven Santa Ana's game-high 23 points including 6-of-8 from long range.
 
With 9.3 seconds left in regulation, Dmitri Thompson hit a pair of free throws to give Elon a 61-58 lead. Chealey got a good look from the top of the key after Charleston called a timeout getting the ball to mid-court off the inbounds pass.
 
After the missed three, Santa Ana was fouled and secured the victory on two made free throws. It marked Elon's first win in the series in the last four meetings between the two former Southern Conference rivals.
 
The Cougars (12-6, 3-3 CAA) led 31-26 at halftime, but a stretch of three-pointers and 10-0 run by the Phoenix in the second half erased a nine-point deficit.
 
Tyler Seibring drained a three-pointer with 2:29 left on the clock to give Elon a 57-51 advantage. He ended the night with 17 points.
 
In the final minutes of the ballgame, CofC rallied with a 7-2 run of its own as Grant Riller converted a three-point play to get the Cougars within one, 59-58. He ended the night with 14 points as did Chealey.
 
Jarrell Brantley recorded a team-high 16 points, seven rebounds, two blocks and two steals in the loss.
 
CofC will play three of its next four games at home beginning with UNCW (5-13, 2-4 CAA) on Thursday, Jan. 18 at 7 p.m. (ET) at TD Arena. Tickets for that White Out Game can be purchased by calling (843) 953-COFC or online at: www.CofCSports.com/tickets
 
POSTGAME NOTES
• For the sixth-straight game in CAA action, College of Charleston used the starting lineup of Joe Chealey, Grant Riller, Cameron Johnson, Jarrell Brantley and Nick Harris.
• College of Charleston played its last game at Alumni Gym in the all-time series with Elon as the school opens a new campus arena for the 2018-19 season. The Cougars compiled an 8-3 record versus the Phoenix at Alumni Gym since 1950.
• Jarrell Brantley recorded a team-high 16 points and seven rebounds in the loss at Elon. He also added two assists, two blocked shots and two steals in 36 minutes of play. Brantley, who has scored in double figures in the last six-consecutive games, has now tabulated 999 career points to date.
• Joe Chealey registered 14 points and brought down five rebounds at Elon. He surpassed former CofC standout Jeff Bolton (1999-02) for seventh all-time on the school's all-time career scorers list with 1,532 career points date. Chealey has now scored in double figures in 17-of-18 games this season.
• Grant Riller also added 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field at Elon. He extended his double-digit scoring streak to three-straight contests.
• Nick Harris grabbed a game-high tying and team-high 11 rebounds including 10 on the defensive end at Elon. It marked his third double-figure rebounding game of the season and seventh of his career.
• The Cougars went a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line behind Joe Chealey (4-for-4), Grant Riller (3-for-3) and Jarrell Brantley (2-for-2). It was their best performance from the charity stripe this season ahead of a 9-for-10 outing versus Cal Poly at the GCI Great Alaska Shootout on Nov. 22.
 
POSTGAME QUOTES
College of Charleston Head Coach Earl Grant
On the game …
"We went into the locker room up five. We did a great job of challenging their three-point shots and had some open looks. In the second half, we didn't continue to do that. They (Elon) really shot it well and made 11 threes. I think that was a big difference. For us, we were in miss offense. We settled for some shots. We weren't attacking and getting into the paint to draw some fouls. We just didn't have a great shooting night."
 
On the team's second-half play …
"In the second half, we were doing a good job in the first part of the half of getting stops. We were in transition. We settled for some shots. They (Elon) went under every ball screen and they were sagging back. They made us take early perimeter shots. I don't question those shots all the time, because we have a good shooting team and we shot it well. But, I thought we took some shots early in the possession that we could've taken our time on."
 
On Elon's three-pointers …
"(Steven) Santa Ana is a great player. He has been good the whole time he has been (at Elon). They made some threes and we weren't converting in transition. Then, we had two-or-three turnovers on travel calls. All in the midst of them making two-or-three threes. We went from being up six to down four. It happened quickly."
 
On the last-second shot taken by Joe Chealey …
"We got a good look. It was a one-possession game. We wanted to get one good quality shot and I thought we did that."