RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Grant Riller and Jarrell Brantley combined to score 56 points and Brantley added a career-high 17 rebounds to power College of Charleston to an 83-79 victory over VCU on Saturday.
 
Riller scored a game-high 30 on 10-of-14 shooting, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range, for the Cougars (9-2). Brantley sank 7-of-17 shots and 12-of -5 free throws in notching his second-straight double-double.
 
Riller and Brantley came into the game as the fifth-best scoring duo in the country averaging 41.5 points per game. Zep Jasper scored 13 for the Cougars, who are off to their best start since 2011-12.
 
The Rams (7-4), who trailed 32-28 at halftime, jumped ahead 37-36 on a De'riante Jenkins 3-pointer with 17:24 remaining.
 
Charleston took the lead for good at 48-46 on Brantley's layup with 11:48 left. Twice the Rams got within a bucket in the final 16 seconds, but Jasper and Riller hit two free throws each and the Cougars prevailed.
 
Jenkins topped VCU with 23 points, but he made just 2-of-11 from beyond the arc as the Rams shot 22 percent from distance. Marcus Santos-Silva added 16 points and 12 rebounds for his second double-double this season.
 
CofC remains on the road and travels next to Siena (4-6) for a Tuesday, Dec. 18 matchup at 7 p.m. (ET) in Albany, N.Y.
 
POSTGAME NOTES
• For the 11th-consecutive game, College of Charleston went with the starting five of Zep Jasper, Grant Riller, Brevin Galloway, Jarrell Brantley and Nick Harris (9-2).
• With the win, College of Charleston has now beaten two Atlantic 10 Conference opponents this season in VCU and Rhode Island. The Cougars picked up only their second win and first on the road in the all-time series which VCU still leads 4-2.
• Grant Riller registered his third 30-point game of the season with a game-high 30 points at VCU. He has now turned in eight 30-point games in his career and extended his double-digit scoring streak to six games. It moved him into 17th all-time in scoring with 1,321 career points to date.
• Jarrell Brantley recorded his third double-double of the season and in back-to-back games with 26 points and a career-high 17 rebounds at VCU. It marked his 26th career double-double. He also added a career-high tying four steals and three assists to the winning cause. Brantley stands at 1,496 career points and 784 career rebounds to date.
• Zep Jasper joined Brantley and Riller in double figures with his fourth double-figure scoring game of the season with 13 points at VCU.
• Senior guard Marquise Pointer played in his second game back from a preseason elbow injury and added seven points off the bench in 24 minutes of action at VCU.
• Junior forward Sam Miller made his Cougar debut checking into the game in the first half at VCU. He transferred to CofC in January of 2018 from Dayton. Miller played five minutes and made one steal.
• The win was the first home loss for VCU this season at the Siegel Center and 21st loss in the program's 123-consecutive sold-out game streak at the venue.
• VCU, who came into the game ranked No. 20 in the nation in scoring defense (61.1 ppg), gave up the second-most points this season to an opponent (83) behind 87 points in a loss to St. John's on Nov. 20.
• The Cougars made a season-high 23 turnovers against VCU's full-court press.
 
POSTGAME QUOTES
College of Charleston Head Coach Earl Grant
On the game …
"I saw a lot of grit from us tonight. Our guys were resilient. We knew they (VCU) would be a hard team to play. We knew that they were very aggressive in their press attack. We spent a lot of time working on it and didn't execute the way we needed to at times. We knew with their crowd, the way they press and their athleticism, they would have a couple of runs. They made two runs. We weathered the storm and made enough plays to win the game."
 
On Grant Riller and Jarrell Brantley's play …
"He (Grant Riller) did a really good job in the first half of letting things come to him. When VCU ran multiple players at him, he made assists. He passed the ball and made good decisions. We even did a couple of isolation plays for him. He drove it and made the right play. I thought Jarrell Brantley did the same thing. They (VCU) were keying on those two guys. In the first half, they passed it and we had other kids make big threes. In the second half, they really put us on their backs and took over the game."
 
College of Charleston Senior Forward Jarrell Brantley
On his double-double performance with a career-high 17 rebounds at VCU …
"We knew this was going to be a tough game. This team (VCU) is a tournament team. We (CofC) are a tournament team. This was a big game to go get and I knew we would have to fight and claw for everything we got tonight. I just came into the game and wanted to focus on rebounding. Seventeen rebounds – it was big for me."