Charleston, S.C. -- The College of Charleston men's basketball team staved off a frenetic push by Tulane in the final minutes and downed the Green Wave, 81-77, on Tuesday night at TD Arena. The win improves CofC to 5-2 on the season, including a 4-1 mark at home.
Freshman
Reyne Smith, who is the three-time reigning CAA Rookie of the Week, erupted for a career-high 22 points on a career-best six threes to lead Charleston. He finished 7-of-11 from the field and added six boards in another remarkable performance. With Smith leading charge, CofC sunk a season-high 12 triples to surge passed Tulane.
Charleston outrebounded Tulane, 39-28, and forced 19 Green Wave turnovers. Head coach
Pat Kelsey got 35 points from his bench as nine Cougars found the scoring column. Junior
Brenden Tucker added 17 off the bench on 6-of-11 shooting. Senior
John Meeks finished with eight points, eight boards and a career-high six assists.
After a sloppy first half for both teams and an even first nine minutes of action in the second half, CofC held a 49-48 edge with 11:25 left. That's when the Cougars made their run, as Tucker and sophomore
Fah'mir Ali hit back-to-back-to-back threes during a 13-5 CofC spurt that gave Kelsey's squad a 62-53 advantage at the 7:32 mark.
CofC pushed in front by as many as 12 after one of Smith's six trifectas but Tulane came roaring back to within one in the final two minutes, forcing turnovers and making clutch shots. In the end, CofC got the stop it needed as senior
Osinachi Smart corralled a game-winning rebound and buried two free throws to ice the game in the final seconds.
Key Cougars
- Freshman Reyne Smith hit six threes en route to a game-high 22 points.
- Senior Dimitrius Underwood matched his career-high with five steals and once again filled the stat sheet with eight points, seven boards and four assists.
- Senior John Meeks scored just eight points but added eight boards and a career-high six assists.
- Sophomore Fah'mir Ali wound up with 10 points and three assists in 25 minutes.
- Junior Brenden Tucker scored in double figures for the fourth time this season with 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including four threes.
Game Notes
- Charleston finishes November with at least five victories already for just the third time since 2009.
- The Cougars grabbed 14 offensive rebounds and have now snagged at least 10 o-boards in all seven contests. They rank sixth nationally in offensive rebounds per game. Tulane had just three offensive rebounds.
- Underwood now has 16 combined steals over his last four games.
- Smith is the first Cougar to hit six threes in a game since Brevin Galloway on Dec. 9, 2020.
- Freshman Raekwon Horton scored the first points of his career on Tuesday night, finishing with six off the bench.
Up Next
The Cougars travel to Furman on Friday night to take on the Paladins. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
