Cougars To Battle Dragons In CAA Quarterfinals

Sunday, March 10

North Charleston Coliseum - North Charleston, S.C.

8:30 PM

College of Charleston

Drexel

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Photo by: AlSamuels.com

3/9/2019 11:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

CAA Quarterfinals Game Notes

#3 COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON (23-8) vs. #6 DREXEL (13-18)
Game #32
2019 CAA Men's Basketball Championship Quarterfinals
March 10, 2019 • 8:30 p.m. (ET)
North Charleston Coliseum (14,000)
at North Charleston, S.C.

Television: CAA.tv
Radio: College of Charleston Radio Network (ESPN Radio 910 AM | 94.7 FM)
Series History: CofC Leads 10-6
Last Meeting: CofC def. Drexel, 86-84, on Feb. 9, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pa.
Internet: Live Statistics at http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/tournament.php?tid=228
Live Video: Live Video at http://portal.stretchinternet.com/caa/
Tickets: www.Ticketmaster.com
Twitter: @CofCBasketball

THE COACHES
College of Charleston: Earl Grant
Fifth Year at CofC: 100-64
Fifth Year Overall: 100-64
Drexel: Zach Spiker
Third Year at Drexel: 35-61
Tenth Year Overall: 137-173

TELEVISION (CAA.tv)
Play-By-Play: Scott Klatzkin
Color Analyst: Mack McCarthy

RADIO (College of Charleston Radio Network)
Play-By-Play: Everett German
Color Analyst: Danny Johnson

TOURNAMENT PREVIEW
The defending tournament champion College of Charleston men's basketball team (23-8) enters this year's Colonial Athletic Association Men's Basketball Championship as the No. 3 seed and will battle No. 6 seed Drexel (13-18) for the third time this season in the quarterfinals on Sunday, March 10 at 8:30 p.m. (ET) just a few miles up the highway at the North Charleston Coliseum in North Charleston, S.C. The Cougars won three of their last four regular-season games to secure the first-round tournament bye along with top-seeded Hofstra, second-seeded Northeastern, fourth-seeded William & Mary and fifth-seeded Delaware. This will be the second-consecutive year in which CofC will open tournament play versus the Dragons – having both met in last year's quarterfinals (W, 66-59) as the No. 1 and No. 8 seeds respectively. The winner will move on and face either Northeastern or Elon/UNCW in the semifinals on Monday, March 11 at 8:30 p.m. (ET). Charleston ended the regular season with a 70-61 victory over UNCW on Senior Day behind a fourth-straight double-double performance from senior forward Jarrell Brantley with 23 points and 10 rebounds. He was named to the All-CAA First Team along with junior guard Grant Riller, who currently ranks No. 18 nationally in scoring averaging 22.3 points per game. Both are a force to reckon and bring veteran leadership as CofC looks to repeat the memorable season that happened last March.

SCOUTING DREXEL
Since both teams last met at the beginning of February in Philadelphia, Drexel went 1-4 with the loss of senior guard Troy Harper, who scored 30 points against CofC in that outing and is out for the remainder of the season with a foot injury. The Dragons still boast a very talented roster including CAA Rookie of the Year and All-CAA Rookie Team selection Camren Wynter, who is averaging 11.2 points and 5.4 assists per game this season, and All-CAA Third Team selection Alihan Demir. The Dragons are making their first tournament appearance with a first-round bye since the 2014 season.

2019 CAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Single-game tickets are on sale for the 2019 Colonial Athletic Association Men's Basketball Championship to be held on March 9-12 at the North Charleston Coliseum. Tickets can be purchased through the North Charleston Coliseum Box Office or www.Ticketmaster.com.

Saturday, March 9
Game 1: #8 James Madison vs. #9 Towson at 4:00 p.m.
Game 2: #7 Elon vs. #10 UNCW at 6:30 p.m.

Monday, March 11
Game 3: #1 Hofstra vs. Game 1 Winner at 12:00 p.m.
Game 4: #4 William & Mary vs. Delaware at 2:30 p.m.
Game 5: #2 Northeastern vs. Game 2 Winner at 6:00 p.m.
Game 6: #3 College of Charleston vs. #6 Drexel at 8:30 p.m.

Monday, March 11
Game 7: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner at 6:00 p.m.
Game 8: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner at 8:30 p.m.

Tuesday, March 12
Game 9: Championship Game at 7:00 p.m.

HOW THEY GOT THERE
College of Charleston is currently the third-highest rated CAA school in the NCAA Net Rankings (No. 109) behind Hofstra (No. 67) and Northeastern (No. 82). The Cougars earned the No. 3 tournament seed with their third-straight 10+ win season in conference play going 12-6 versus league foes. Charleston went 13-2 at home this season and compiled a 11-2 non-conference record with wins over Rhode Island, VCU and Memphis. The Cougars' two losses were to a pair of Power 5 schools in Oklahoma State and then No. 19-ranked LSU.

COUGARS ALL-TIME IN CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT PLAY
College of Charleston is 34-18 (.654) all-time in conference tournament play as members of the Trans America Athletic Conference (TAAC) from 1993-98, Southern Conference from 1998-2013 and Colonial from 2013-Present. The Cougars gained NCAA Division I status during the 1991-92 season. They are 6-2 all-time in first-round games, 14-6 in quarterfinal games, 10-4 in semifinal games and 4-6 in championship games. CofC has played in the conference tournament championship game four times in the last nine years as members of the SoCon in 2011 (lost to Wofford) and 2013 (lost to Davidson) as well as members of the Colonial in 2017 (lost to UNCW) and 2018 (defeated Northeastern).

COUGARS ON THE AIRWAVES
Fans can listen to all CofC men's basketball games throughout the 2018-19 season on ESPN Radio 910 AM and 94.7 FM in Charleston or via a live audio link at: www.charlestonsportsradio.com. Voice of the Cougars Everett German will call the action live from North Charleston Coliseum along with color analyst Danny Johnson on the College of Charleston Radio Network.

PROJECTED COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON STARTERS
#21 Marquise Pointer, G, 6-0, 210, Sr. (4.8 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 2.2 apg, 23.6 min)
#1 Grant Riller, G, 6-3, 190, Jr. (22.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 4.0 apg, 35.5 min)
#2 Brevin Galloway, G, 6-2, 215, So. (7.8 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 1.0 apg, 25.5 min)
#5 Jarrell Brantley, F, 6-7, 255, Sr. (19.5 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 2.3 apg, 34.0 min)
#23 Nick Harris, F, 6-10, 270, Sr. (3.2 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 0.2 apg, 18.8 min)

PROJECTED DREXEL STARTERS
#11 Camren Wynter, G, 6-2, 175, Fr. (11.2 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 5.4 apg, 33.9 min)
#15 Matey Juric, G, 5-11, 193, Fr. (1.2 ppg, 0.8 rpg, 0.9 apg, 10.3 min)
#23 Trevor John, G, 6-3, 190, Sr. (12.1 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.1 apg, 32.5 min)
#30 Alihan Demir, F, 6-9, 232, Jr. (14.9 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 2.8 apg, 30.1 min)
#51 James Butler, F, 6-8, 242, So. (10.1 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 0.5 apg, 26.7 min)

AMONG NCAA STATISTICAL LEADERS
The Cougars currently rank among the Top 20 NCAA Division I statistical leaders in free-throw percentage (17th, 76.4%), personal fouls per game (12th, 14.8 avg.) and turnovers per game (18th, 10.6 avg.). Individually, Jarrell Brantley is 31st in the nation in double-doubles (12), while he and Grant Riller are No. 55 and No. 18 respectively in points per game.

SERIES HISTORY
College of Charleston leads 10-6 in the all-time series with Drexel. The Cougars have won six of the last eight contests in the series. Both teams split the regular-season series winning on each other's home court this season. Each of those games were decided by two points or less including another wild finish in an 86-84 victory for the Cougars over the Dragons at the Daskalakis Athletic Center on Feb. 9 in Philadelphia.

LAST 10 GAMES IN THE SERIES
W, 86-84 (+2) on Feb. 9, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pa.
L, 78-79 (-1) on Jan. 10, 2019 at Charleston, S.C.
W, 66-59 (+7) on March 4, 2018 at North Charleston, S.C.^
W, 89-67 (+22) on Feb. 10, 2018 at Charleston, S.C.
L, 82-87 OT (-5) on Jan. 5, 2018 at Philadelphia, Pa.
W, 80-67 (+13) on Feb. 25, 2017 at Charleston, S.C.
W, 90-76 (+14) on Jan. 28, 2017 at Philadelphia, Pa.
W, 60-38 (+22) on Feb. 6, 2016 at Charleston, S.C.
L, 54-61 (-7) on Jan. 9, 2016 at Philadelphia, Pa.
W, 56-48 (+8) on March 6, 2015 at Baltimore, Md.^
^ CAA Tournament

COUGARS ALL-TIME vs. CAA TOURNAMENT OPPONENTS
College of Charleston is 7-4 all-time in the CAA Men's Basketball Championship since joining the league in July of 2013. Of the 10-member schools, the Cougars have only faced Delaware (1-0), Drexel (2-0), James Madison (1-0), Northeastern (1-0), Towson (1-0), UNCW (0-3) and William & Mary (1-1) in postseason conference play.

UNCW RECAP
College of Charleston 70, UNCW 61
• For the first time this season, College of Charleston went with the starting five of Marquise Pointer, Grant Riller, Jermaine Blackmon Jr., Jarrell Brantley and Nick Harris on Senior Day (1-0). It marked Blackmon's first career start and fourth career game played as a walk-on to the program.
• With the win, College of Charleston swept the regular-season series versus UNCW for only the second time since joining the Colonial in 2013. The Cougars have now won five of the last six meetings between the two rival Coastal schools and take a two-game, 15-13, lead in the series.
• Jarrell Brantley recorded his fourth-straight double-double with a game-high 23 points and 10 rebounds versus UNCW. It marked the 35th double-double of his career and 12th of the season. He also made a career-high tying three blocked shots and four assists. Brantley surpassed former CofC great Jermaine Johnson (2006-09) to move into fourth on the school's all-time career rebounding list (950). He has now tabulated 1,880 career points and 83 career blocks to date.
• Grant Riller registered 22 points against UNCW to extend his double-digit scoring streak to 26-consecutive games. It marked his 20th game this season with 20-or-more points.
• The Cougar defense held UNCW to a season-low 61 points. The Seahawks entered the contest with the second-best scoring offense in the CAA averaging 76.7 points per game.
• CofC Head Coach Earl Grant earned his 100th career coaching victory in the nine-point win over UNCW.

COUGAR SOUND BITES
"Coach (Zach) Spiker is doing a good job of building the program at Drexel and has good young players. They have a bright future. Camren Wynter is a talented point guard. He has done a good job of running his team. There are a lot of great guards in this league. He is one of them. He plays with good pace and has played a lot of great minutes this year." – CofC Head Coach Earl Grant on Drexel and point guard Camren Wynter

"It's business as usual. I think the players know just as much about the opponents and the games than the coaches. Especially when you are playing a team for the third time. The most important thing is that we make sure we improve and get better in areas that we are trying to get better in. Execute our game plan. This week leading into a tournament, it's about Charleston being good. Focus on us and don't worry about who you are playing. You have to play somebody and it's probably going to be somebody good. For us, it's about self improvement, and later in the week, start game planning." – Coach Grant on the team's preparation for the CAA Tournament

"Last year is over. That team and their names are in the record book, but that year is over. It's a brand new year and it's a different season. You have to prepare for this tournament like it was the first time you have ever played in the tournament. Your personnel is a little different. It's March. We are just excited that we are at that time of the season where we can play in the conference tournament." – Coach Grant on using any of last year's championship experience into this year as motivation for the team

"Trusting in each other and sharing the responsibility on offense and defense. Playing basketball to our abilities, because we have talent. Believe in our system – what we do and how we play. Do it at a high level. It's hard to win any game. Tomorrow isn't promised, so you have to come up with a good plan for the first round and go from there." – Coach Grant on the keys for the Cougars to be successful to make another CAA Tournament run

"We are really excited to start conference tournament play this weekend. Last year, our fans played a really big part of our success. I am thankful we have another year here (in Charleston) playing in the North Charleston Coliseum. We are trying to make the most of the experience and put on a show for our fans." – Junior Guard Grant Riller on how excited the team is to play for the third year in a row at the North Charleston Coliseum in front of their fan base

"We got into two tough battles with them (Drexel) already this year. One of them where they came out with a W. They always play us tough and down-to-the-wire. They are well coached and have really good players. If we just stick to our game plan, we should be able to find success." – Riller on playing Drexel for a third time this season