CHARLESTON, S.C. – With 0.3 seconds remaining in regulation, College of Charleston junior guard Zep Jasper calmly made three-straight free throws to seal the team's 61-60 victory over Drexel on Saturday at TD Arena.
 
The Cougars (4-6, 2-1 CAA) have now won back-to-back games in conference play. Jasper, the team's best free throw shooter shooting 91.7 percent from charity this season, ended the night with 10 points.
 
He was joined in double figures by graduate senior guard Payton Willis, who had a career-and game-high 22 points, and junior transfer Cameron Copeland with 11.
 
Playing in their first league game after last week's postponement with UNCW, the Dragons (5-3, 0-1 CAA) led the entire first half and 36-31 at halftime.
 
CofC went on an 8-0 run to open the second half of play sparked by a long-range three-pointer from graduate senior forward Lorenzo Edwards to take its first lead of the game, 39-36, with 18:36 on the clock.
 
The contest would go back-and-forth until Drexel stretched its lead out to four, 60-56, with 1:13 to go. Copeland kept the Cougars within two with a floater in the paint with under a minute left.
 
With 2.3 seconds left, Copeland in-bounded the ball to Jasper and he was fouled while attempting a last-second three-point shot.
 
It avenged a similar outcome that happened back on Jan. 10, 2019, when the Dragons snapped the Cougars' 22-game home winning streak as Troy Harper was fouled with 1.1 seconds left and scored three-straight free throws to secure the 79-78 victory at TD Arena.
 
The Cougars and Dragons will go at it again in tomorrow's rematch slated for 1 p.m. (ET) at TD Arena.
 
POSTGAME NOTES
· For the third-straight game, College of Charleston started Zep Jasper, Payton Willis, Brenden Tucker, Lorenzo Edwards and Osinachi Smart (2-1).
· With the win, College of Charleston improves to 14-6 in the all-time series with Drexel. The Cougars have now won the last five meetings with the Dragons.
· Payton Willis extended his double-digit scoring streak to seven games with a career-and game-high 22 points against Drexel. It was his second 20-point game in the last three outings next to 21 points at Delaware on Jan. 2.
· Zep Jasper delivered the game-winning free throws (3-for-3) to end the night with 10 points – his third-straight game in double figures and eighth on the season.
· Cameron Copeland came off the bench and turned in back-to-back games in double figures with 11 on 5-of-6 shooting from the field versus Drexel.
· In the last three out of four games, the CofC defense has held its opponent to its fewest-or second-fewest points of the season. Drexel, which came into the game averaging 70.4 points per game, scored its second-fewest points of the season (60) in Saturday's contest.
 
POSTGAME QUOTES
 
College of Charleston Head Coach Earl Grant
On the game …
"It was a dog fight. Drexel presented good challenges with some of the players they have. I am really happy our players showed great fortitude and toughness. I thought we executed our game plan really well, especially in the second half. Give our players a lot of credit. It was a challenge. In the end, the good Lord – we were very fortunate. Our players executed a really good play and we were fortunate to get the shot off. It just went our way. The players played hard."
 
On the final shot …
"We had about three different options in there. That was one of the options. That just happened to be the option that presented itself. Cam Copeland, the in-bounder, just did a good job of having poise, reading his options and delivered the pass. I was very happy that we got that shot off and things went our way."
 
College of Charleston Junior Guard Zep Jasper
On riling up the crowd while shooting his last free throws …
"I'm kinda more relaxed when I hear a lot of noise. It gets me poised and gives me confidence. I feel like everybody is on my side when I hear everyone screaming and everybody going for us. I knew those three free throws would go down with the home team and crowd behind us."
 
On the team staying in the game after trailing Drexel during the first half …
"We didn't want the game to get away. We stayed close the whole game. They threw punches around the 12 minute mark. We just had to stay poised and stay confident. We were down four with a minute and 12 seconds to go. Basically, we were telling everybody to be confident and stay calm. We still had a chance to win. We pulled it off."
 
On not staying high after tonight's win …
"I always tell my teammates to 'stay humble.' You have to stay humble at all times. You can beat them (Drexel) the first time, but they can come back and beat us the second time. We have another game and need to be prepared again in less than 24 hours."