CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) – Grant Riller had 30 points to go with six rebounds and four assists as College of Charleston rolled past Elon, 79-58, on Thursday night to extend its unbeaten streak to 11 games and claim the Colonial Athletic Association regular-season championship title.
 
Charleston (23-6, 14-3) is tied with Michigan State and Grambling for longest win streak in the nation.
 
The Cougars embarked on their current winning streak after falling to Elon on the road, 63-58, on Jan. 13.
 
Charleston sprinted to an early lead to take a 29-18 advantage into intermission. Elon got off to a strong start in the second period, closing to 35-30 at the 13:14 mark.
 
Riller scored three points to start an 11-0 run and the Cougars coasted home. He nailed a career-high six from distance as the Cougars drained a season-high 17-of-37 from beyond the arc. Joe Chealey drilled 4-of-8 from long range to total 22 points. He also was 6-of-6 from the free-throw line.
 
Dmitri Thompson had 16 to lead Elon (14-15, 6-10), which has lost four in a row. Tyler Seibring added 15 points and Brian Dawkins chipped in 12.
 
CofC will have a quick turnaround as it travels to William & Mary (17-11, 10-7 CAA) for both teams' regular-season finale on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 2 p.m. (ET) in Williamsburg, Va.
 
POSTGAME NOTES
• For the first time this season, the College of Charleston started Joe Chealey, Grant Riller, Cameron Johnson, Evan Bailey and Nick Harris on Senior Night. It marked the seventh career start for Bailey.
• With the win, College of Charleston split the regular-season series with Elon. The Cougars lead 19-7 in the all-time series with their former Southern Conference foes. They have now won four of the last five meetings between the two schools and avenged a 63-58 loss to the Phoenix on the road on Jan. 13 – the team's last loss prior to their current 11-game win streak.
• The Cougars claimed at least a share of their first conference regular-season championship title since 2011. It marked the first CAA regular-season title for CofC since joining the Colonial in July of 2013. They earned the No. 1 tournament seed in the 2018 CAA Men's Basketball Championship and league's automatic NIT berth.
• CofC recorded its first undefeated season at home (14-0) since 2001 - the sixth all-time undefeated season at home in program history. The Cougars have now won 16-straight games at TD Arena since last season. It was the first unbeaten season at home in TD Arena history which opened in 2008.
• The Cougars extend their win streak to 11-straight games which is tied as the sixth-longest in the program's NCAA Division I Era (1991-92 to Present) and tied for the longest currently in NCAA Division I with Michigan State and Grambling State.
• Grant Riller registered a game-high 30 points on 10-of-19 shooting from the field including a career-high six three-pointers versus Elon. He also tied career highs in rebounds (6), offensive rebounds (2) and assists (4). It marked his fifth career 30-point game and fourth of the season.
• The Cougars knocked down a season-high 17 three-pointers versus Elon. It marked the most three-pointers made in a single game in the Earl Grant Era and was two shy of the school record set at Western Carolina (19) on Jan. 25, 2010.
• Joe Chealey turned in his ninth 20-point game of the season with 22 points including four three-pointers against Elon. He has now tabulated 1,731 career points to date which ranks fifth all-time in the school record books.
 
POSTGAME QUOTES
College of Charleston Head Coach Earl Grant
On cutting the nets down in the team's final home game …
"It's hard to put into words, because you spend so much time trying to prepare and win games. It's almost like you don't know how to celebrate, because you focus on the process so much. We were down at the bottom of the barrel a few years back. It was very hard and some of the same guys are still around. It just feels great. We've been trying to climb a mountain for so long that it's good to see our guys to have some joy in their heart tonight."
 
On the win …
"We will enjoy it tonight. This game was hard and we opened it up in the second half. At the end of the day, it was a moment the players and our fans needed. Because, our players and fans deserve success. It takes a village to move a program forward. There are so many people behind it."
 
College of Charleston Sophomore Guard Grant Riller
On winning a regular-season championship title …
"It was amazing. We knew what was at stake tonight. We tried to focus on our game plan to come out and still play hard. I thought we did that tonight. Our seniors deserve it. I've been here three years and I've seen all of the work they (Joe Chealey, Cameron Johnson, Evan Bailey, John Eck and Nick Harris) put in. In the gym late at night and up early in the morning to work on their game. Just to give it back to them means so much."