KENT, Ohio – The College of Charleston men's basketball team defeated Kent State 84-78 on Sunday evening for a resume building non-conference win.
Reyne Smith and
Ben Burnham started the scoring for the Cougars with back-to-back triples to foreshadow what would be a stellar night from three-point for Charleston.
Neither team took more than a three-point lead through the half until a 6-0 Kent State gave the Golden Flashes a 32-26 lead, the largest of the evening for either team. The teams traded points from that point on, giving Kent State a 41-35 edge entering the half.
Reyne Smith went 3-for-5 from deep during the period for 11 points in the half.
Smith scored his fourth and fifth three of the night within a 90 second span of the half before
Frankie Policelli joined the three-point party to give Charleston the 44-41 lead less than two minutes into the frame.
Charleston went on a 14-0 run before Kent State was able to score their first points of the half 15 minutes in on a pair of free throws. The Golden Flashes slowly crawled back into the contest before a speedy
Jordan Crawford went on his own five-point to give CofC a nine-point lead with just under ten minutes to play.
The Golden Flashes came within two points at 68-66 and took their first lead of the half at 73-71 with three minutes to play. The Cougars closed out the game on a 13-7 run to seal the comeback victory.
KEY COUGARS
- Smith led the Cougars for the second consecutive game, totaling 21 points going 5-for-8 for the deep
- Frankie Policelli (16), Bryce Butler (12), Ben Burnham (11) and Crawford (10) joined Smith to put five Cougars in double-digit scoring.
- Butler had a game-high seven rebounds followed by James Scott with six.
- CJ Fulton dished out a game-high seven assists.
GAME NOTES
- The contest was the Cougars' first true road game of the season after playing in the Veterans Classic and Myrtle Beach Invitational.
- Charleston erased a six-point halftime deficit, their first halftime comeback of the season.
- Charleston made 13 three-pointers, the team's second game with 10+ this season.
UP NEXT
- Charleston, now 3-3 on the year, will travel to Boca Raton to participate in the inaugural Field of 68 Tip-Off event. The Cougars will take on Liberty on Dec. 1 followed by No. 19 Florida Atlantic on Dec. 2.