WASHINGTON, D.C. – The College of Charleston men's basketball team won its 30^th game of the season on Monday night, defeating Towson 77-72 in the CAA semifinals. The Cougars will play UNCW tomorrow in the championship at 7:00 p.m. on CBS Sports Network. This was third time Charleston has defeated Towson this season.

The teams traded points through the first four minutes of play before a Dalton Bolon triple gave the Cougars an early 8-5 lead. Back-to-back layups from Ben Burnham helped push a 14-11 during a two-minute Towson drought.
In a contest not lacking energy and intensity, Towson took their first lead since 5-2 on a trey to make it 20-19. The Cougars dominated the glass early on both ends of the court as neither team was able to score for nearly three minutes. Charleston struggled to find the basket and entered the locker room down 38-33.

The Cougars stormed out in the second half to take a 42-40 lead on a Reyne Smith three after back-to-back offensive rebounds for Charleston's first lead since 19-15.

Smith proceeded to go on a personal 14-0 run to give the Cougars their largest lead of the night 52-43. Charleston held strong, causing several Tiger fouls that lead to successful trips to the charity stripe.

Towson cut the lead to three at 66-63 after a 6-0 run and tied it down the stretch. The teams played a physical, all-out contest to the end where clutch free throws by Ryan Larson sealed the 77-72 victory for Charleston. The Cougars advance to the title game for the first time since 2018.
 
Key Cougars

• Smith led the Cougars with 20 points followed by Ante Brzovic with 19. Dalton Bolon and Larson each contributed 12.
• Brzovic was one rebound away from a double-double, collecting nine on the night. Burnham was one board behind with eight.

Up Next

• No. 2 Charleston will face No. 4 UNCW for an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Seahawks defeated No. 1 Hofstra in overtime to advance.
• The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.