NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. – All-Colonial Athletic Association First Team honoree Joe Chealey scored 18 of his game-high 22 points after halftime and ignited a second half rally that gave top-seeded College of Charleston a 66-59 victory over eighth-seeded Drexel in the quarterfinals of the CAA Men's Basketball Championship presented by Jersey Mike's on Sunday at the North Charleston Coliseum.
 
The victory sends the regular-season CAA co-champion Cougars (24-7) into the semifinals on Monday night where they will face No. 4-seeded William & Mary (19-11) at 6 p.m. (ET).
 
Drexel began the final half with a 21-9 scoring burst to lead 48-39 with 10:50 to play before Chealey connected on three-point field goal attempts on consecutive Charleston possessions to get the Cougars to within 48-45.
 
Junior forward Jarrell Brantley scored on driving layups on back-to-back CofC possessions for a 52-48 Cougar lead at 5:24 before five straight Drexel points – a three-pointer by junior guard Tramaine Isabell and a layup by sophomore guard Kurk Lee – gave the Dragons their final lead, 53-52 with 4:22 left.
 
Chealey then scored on a driving layup with 3:55 to play to put Charleston in front to stay 54-53.  Senior guard Cameron Johnson had a three-pointer and Chealey a 15-footer for a 59-53 Cougar edge with 2:38 left, and Drexel got no closer than four points again.
 
Chealey hit on 8-of-18 shots from the field and had five rebounds and three assists in 37 minutes.  He was joined in double-figure scoring by teammates Grant Riller and Brantley with 17 and 12 points, respectively.  Brantley also had 11 rebounds and three assists for his fourth double-double.
 
Charleston shot 48.0 percent during the second half after hitting on but 13 of 31 first-half shots.  Drexel hit on five of its first six second-half shots while rallying from a 30-27 halftime deficit but finished the period only 13 of 29 from the field.  College of Charleston finished shooting 44.6 percent (25-56) and Drexel 39.7 percent (23-58).  The Cougars had a 40-35 rebounding advantage.
 
Lee led Drexel with 15 points on 7-of 11 FG shooting.  Isabell added 14 points and a game-high 12 rebounds and senior forward Austin Williams had 12 points and nine rebounds.
 
The first half was close throughout with neither team leading by more than five points – a 28-23 Charleston edge at 1:55.  Riller had 13 first-half points for Charleston on 6-of-9 shooting, but his teammates hit on only seven of 22 shots (31.8 percent) and Drexel shot but 34.5 percent (10-29).  Williams had six points and six rebounds and Isabell five points and seven rebounds for Drexel, which had a 24-19 rebounding advantage.
 
College of Charleston's victory gave No. 1 seeds a 31-1 all-time record in CAA Tournament quarterfinal games.
 
Tickets are available to the CAA Men's Basketball Championship and can be purchased via www.Ticketmaster.com or at the North Charleston Coliseum Box Office.
 
POSTGAME NOTES
• The College of Charleston went with the starting five of Joe Chealey, Grant Riller, Cameron Johnson, Jarrell Brantley and Nick Harris, who returned to the lineup after missing the Cougars' final regular-season game at William & Mary on Feb. 24 due to injury.
• With the win, College of Charleston is now 5-4 all-time in CAA Tournament games since joining the league in 2013. The Cougars improve to 2-0 in those games when playing Drexel. Both teams last met in the 2015 First Round. They are now 14-6 in quarterfinal games all-time in program history.
• Joe Chealey led all scorers with a game-high 22 points versus Drexel. It marked his 11th 20-point game this season. He has now tabulated 1,777 career points to date which ranks fifth all-time in program history.
• Jarrell Brantley recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 12 points and a team-high 11 rebounds against Drexel. He also added two blocked shots and two steals in 33 minutes of action.
• Grant Riller registered 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field versus Drexel. He became the 38th all-time player in school history to gain entrance into the 1,000-Career Point Club with his sixth point in the first half of play. Riller also became the fastest-ever player in school history to reach 1,000 career points in 65 career games played. CofC all-time leading scorer Andrew Goudelock scored 1,000 points in 68 career games played during his sophomore season in 2008-09. Riller has totaled 1,011 career points to date.
• CofC outrebounded Drexel, 40-35, including 11 on the offensive glass – 3 from Marquise Pointer off the bench.
• The Cougars held the high-scoring Dragons to their fewest points (59) of the season next to a 78-59 loss versus Mercer on Nov. 18, 2017.
 
POSTGAME QUOTES
College of Charleston Head Coach Earl Grant
On the game …
"Defensively, we talked about how important it was that we needed to get stops coming into this tournament. We needed to be true to who we are. And, the way we have been finding success is our defense and rebounding. They (Drexel) didn't score 60 points tonight, which I thought was a huge factor in the game. Offensively, we hadn't played in seven days. We didn't have any flow and it took us a while to get going. I was glad we were able to survive."
 
College of Charleston Senior Guard Joe Chealey
On the team's second-half comeback …
"Coach (Grant) told us just to keep chipping away. We had to get stops and finish possessions defensively. Play together offensively. We felt like if we could do that, things would fall our way. Fortunately, it did."
 
On Grant Riller's big shot …
"I've said this before. He's the best scorer I've played with and I've been around. You just trust him to make big shots. A lot of guys stepped up. But, it wasn't even just shots, it was the hustle plays he made like Coach (Grant) said. He had a real big tip-out that led to a big three. It was an unbelievable game by him."
 
College of Charleston Sophomore Guard Grant Riller
On his big shot at the end of the game …
"Joe (Chealey) drove the lane. He found me and I was lucky enough to hit it."