Charleston, S.C. --  The College of Charleston men's basketball team went on the road on Saturday and beat previously undefeated and preseason-SoCon favorite Chattanooga, 66-64. Senior Dimitrius Underwood's game-winning putback with 1.7 seconds left lifted the Cougars to their first road win of the Pat Kelsey era.
 
 After falling down 46-32 early in the second half, Charleston turned the tide with tenacious defense and hot shooting, ripping off an epic 20-0 run to erase the deficit and surge in front, 50-46. CofC forced 16 Chattanooga turnovers and nabbed eight steals, many coming during the run to seize momentum.
 
After taking the lead, Charleston held the Mocs at bay until the 1:29 mark when another bucket from Silvio DeSousa knotted the score at 64-64. DeSousa wound up with a game-high 21 points down low. CofC's freshman phenom Reyne Smith countered with a baseline floater before a Chattanooga steal and score set up the final possession with 12.9 seconds left and the score tied at 66-66.
 
That's when senior John Meeks' tough drive fell short, and Underwood hustled to tip it back in and seal the win for Charleston.
 
Charleston improves to 4-2, snapping a two-game skid while Chattanooga suffered its first loss of the campaign and dropped to 5-1. Smith led four Cougars in double figures with 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting, while Underwood and Meeks added 12 points apiece.
 
CofC erupted for 43 second-half points and outpaced the Mocs 38-26 in points in the paint. Charleston was fueled by its depth, as the Cougars poured in 20 bench points to Chattanooga's 11.
 
Key Cougars

• Sophomore point guard Fah'mir Ali came off the bench to score 10 key points and dish three assists. He's tallied at least three dimes in five of CofC's six games.
• Freshman Reyne Smith was stellar yet again, scoring 18 points and going 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. He's averaging 17.3 PPG over his last three games.
• Senior John Meeks was saddled with foul trouble in the first half, but still managed to chip in 12 points, hitting tough shot after tough shot during Charleston's second-half spurt.
• Senior Dimitrius Underwood scored the game-winner and finished with 12 points, three boards, three assists and three steals. He has 11 combined steals over the last three games.

 
Game Notes

• CofC improved to 7-1 in its last eight meetings with Chattanooga.
• Charleston has now won eight times on the road at Chattanooga in series history,
• Charleston is now 33-23 on the road since 2016-17.

 
Up Next
The Cougars return home for the first of two matchups with Tulane in a 7-day span. Charleston and the Green Wave tip off at TD Arena on Tuesday, Nov. 30 at 7:30 p.m. ET. The matchup will air on FloSports.