PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Joe Chealey scored a game-high tying 22 points in an 87-82 overtime road loss at Drexel on Friday night at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.
 
The Cougars (11-4, 2-1 CAA) trailed the majority of the ballgame until a jumper by Chealey gave Charleston its first lead, 73-71, with 33 seconds remaining in regulation.
 
Drexel's Kurk Lee made a game-tying layup with 22 seconds and CofC's Jarrell Brantley missed a last-second three-pointer, which sent the contest into the extra period.
 
Lee would score five of his 22 points in OT including free throws down the stretch to seal the victory for the Dragons at home (7-9, 1-2 CAA). For the game, they shot 56.9 percent from the field, converted 14 turnovers by Charleston into 21 points and led 34-26 at halftime.
 
In the loss, Brantley recorded his first double-double of the season with 20 points and a team-high 10 rebounds, while Marquise Pointer came off the bench and added 14.
 
The Cougars will regroup and have a quick turnaround as they take on Towson (11-5, 1-2 CAA) for the second time in nine days on Sunday, Jan. 7 at 2 p.m. (ET) in Towson, Md.
 
POSTGAME NOTES
• For the third time this season, College of Charleston used the starting lineup of Joe Chealey, Grant Riller, Cameron Johnson, Jarrell Brantley and Nick Harris.
• For only the second time this year, the Cougars went to overtime and are now 1-1 in those extra period games next to a 68-60 win over Siena in the season opener on Nov. 10, 2017 at TD Arena.
• Joe Chealey registered a game-high tying 22 points including a 10-of-11 performance from the free throw line versus Drexel. It marked his sixth game this season with 20 points-or-more in a single game.
• Jarrell Brantley recorded his first double-double of the season with 20 points and a team-high 10 rebounds at Drexel. It marked his third-straight game in double figures and 18th career double-double.
• For the third-consecutive game, CofC had two players score 20 points in Joe Chealey (22 points) and Jarrell Brantley (20 points). The duo combined for 42 of the team's 82 points in the ballgame.
• In back-to-back games, Marquise Pointer has come off the bench and contributed double figures in the scoring column for the Cougars. He turned in a season-high tying 14 points at Drexel.
• Cameron Johnson reached double figures for the seventh time this season with 10 points at Drexel.
• Drexel shot an opponent season-high 56.9 percent from the field (33-of-58) and snapped a three-game losing skid in the all-time series.
 
POSTGAME QUOTES
College of Charleston Head Coach Earl Grant
On the game …
"You can give Drexel a lot of credit. Those guys made plays. They were ready to play and were locked in. They did a really good job of attacking us early. I told our guys, '87 points, that's too many.' At the end of the day, we are a defensive and rebounding team. When you lose sight of that, you kind of lose a little bit of who you are. Tonight, I guess we felt we could outscore them. It took us too long to decide we were going to get stops. We were down 19-8 early in the game and they were on a 90-point pace. We didn't do what we needed to do and give Drexel credit that they found a way to win."
 
On the team's play in overtime …
"Guys played a lot of minutes for both teams. Certainly at the end of the game, you could tell that we ran out of gas. We actually got to the rim a lot. But, you have to give their big guy (Austin Williams) credit. He had four blocks and cleaned up some stuff at the rim, while we had chances to score. At the end of the day, (giving up) 87 points is a lesson to learn from. We have to stay true to who we are – we defend and rebound. Tonight, our defense didn't travel with us."