Freshmen Shine in Cougs’ Loss at Hofstra

Monday, February 28

Hempstead, NY

7 PM

College of Charleston

16-14,8-10CAA

Hofstra

21-10,13-5CAA

Col. of Charleston

Hofstra

2/28/2022 10:26:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

CofC's freshmen combined for 57 points

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – Charleston Basketball wrapped up its regular season with a close 89-84 loss to Hofstra on Monday night. Playing in its fourth game in seven days, CofC's late comeback fell just short as the Cougars head into postseason play 16-14 overall and 8-10 in CAA play.

CofC's freshmen quartet of Ben Burnham, Reyne Smith, Raekwon Horton and Babacar Faye accounted for 57 of the Cougars' 84 points (68 percent) on Monday night. Burnham recorded his first career double-double with a career-high 19 points and 13 rebounds. Smith tacked on 19 points on five threes – all coming in the second half.

Faye matched his career-high with 10 points and grabbed a career-best seven rebounds in 16 minutes. Horton added nine points on 3-of-7 FGs. It marked the highest scoring output by CofC's freshmen as a group this season.

Despite the sensational effort from the youngsters, CofC fell short in large part due to 28 Cougar turnovers that led to 32 Hofstra points. The Pride racked up 17 fastbreak points.

Seventeen of Charleston's turnovers came in a sluggish first half that saw Hofstra take an 11-point advantage into halftime. The Cougars came firing out of the gate in the second half, scoring 53 points, shooting 61 percent from the field and a scorching 8-of-12 from beyond the arc over the final 20 minutes.

The torrid offense cut the Hofstra lead all the way down to three with 1:13 remaining on a dunk from Burnham. Hofstra's phenom guard Aaron Estrada responded with a clutch triple on the ensuing possession with 42 seconds left that all but iced the contest. Estrada finished with a game-high 28 points.

Key Cougars

Ben Burnham tallied 19 points and 13 rebounds, hitting three triples and shooting 6-of-10 from the field.
Freshman Reyne Smith hit five threes for the eighth time this season and finished with 19 points.
Freshman Babacar Faye posted career-highs with 10 points and seven rebounds.
Raekwon Horton chipped in nine points.
Dimitrius Underwood added six points and six assists.

Game Notes

CofC finished the regular season grabbing at least seven offensive rebounds in all 30 games, outrebounding opponents 26 times after beating Hofstra by nine on the glass.
A freshman has scored in double figures in 25 of CofC's 30 games.

Up Next
Charleston faces Hofstra for a third time when the two square off in the Quarterfinals of the CAA Tournament on Sunday night at 8:30 p.m. ET in Washington, D.C. CofC will be the No. 6 seed and Hofstra is the No. 3 seed. The matchup will be aired on FloSports.