Charleston, S.C. -- Charleston Men's Basketball fell in a tight battle to No. 18 North Carolina on Tuesday night, 94-83. The Cougars played in front of an electric crowd of 5,203 fans at TD Arena, the second-highest attendance in program history. CofC drops to 3-1 on the young campaign, suffering its first loss of the season.
 
Charleston's freshmen duo of Reyne Smith and Ben Burnham combined for 36 points, both setting career-highs with 19 and 17, respectively. Smith was 3-of-3 from beyond the arc in the early going, helping the Cougars jump out to a 26-15 lead midway through the first half. CofC led for 22:53 of total gameclock on Tuesday.
 
CofC's tenacious pressure defense forced 17 UNC turnovers and despite the Tar Heels' frontcourt presence asserting itself late in the first half, the Cougars held a 42-36 edge at the break.
 
North Carolina battled back to take the lead on a Brady Manek 3-pointer at the 16:53 mark and slowly pushed ahead by as many as eight with 10 minutes remaining. The Cougars kept making runs to stay within striking distance though, as timely buckets from both Smith and Burnham sliced UNC's deficit to one possession on multiple occasions.
 
At the 6:12 mark, UNC held just a 72-71 advantage, but tough shots from Kerwin Walton and Caleb Love held CofC at bay down the stretch.
 
Key Cougars

• Freshman Reyne Smith scored a career-high 19 points on a career-best five 3-pointers to lead CofC.
• Freshman Ben Burnham reached double figures for the second straight game with 17 points off the bench on 7-of-10 shooting. Burnham was a perfect 3-of-3 from beyond the arc.
• Sophomore Fah'mir Ali chipped in 13 points, four assists and four steals.
• Junior Brenden Tucker scored 10 points to reach double figures for the fourth consecutive game to begin the season.

Notes

• Charleston hit a season-high 11 triples on Tuesday and is averaging 10 made threes per game through four contests after averaging 8.3 per game a season ago.
• CofC valued the ball on Tuesday, committing just nine turnovers against UNC and forcing 17. The Cougars have won the turnover battle in three of their first four games.
• The attendance of 5,203 fans marked just the 21^st time more than 5,000 fans attended a single game in program history. It was the second-highest attendance of all-time and the highest since 5,368 fans saw the Cougars play Davison on Dec. 29, 2008.

 
 
Up Next
The Cougars hit the road for their first away game of the campaign as they take on Oklahoma State in Stillwater on Monday, Nov. 22. Tip-off is slated for 8 p.m. ET on ESPN+.