HEMPSTEAD, NY. – In a battle of two of the nation's top three-point shooting teams, the College of Charleston men's basketball team opened CAA play with a 73-61 win over Hofstra. The Cougars and Pride shared the regular season title a season ago.
The Cougars started the game on a 16-4 run behind four consecutive threes from
Ben Burnham,
Bryce Butler and two from
Frankie Policelli.
Hofstra battled back to go on a 7-0 run to come within two of the Cougars before a
Reyne Smith trey and floater in back-to-back possessions gave Charleston a 3:47 lead with just under two minutes remaining. The Pride cut back to a two-point game at 34-32 at the half.
Charleston controlled the glass in the frame, limiting Hofstra to just three offensive rebounds and 17 total. The Cougars grabbed 22 total.
Hofstra took the lead of the locker room before another Policelli three pushed Charleston back in front. The half featured four lead changes before Charleston went on a 13-3 run behind buckets from
CJ Fulton, Butler and
Ante Brzovic to take a 64-57 lead with just over three minutes remaining in the second half and never looked back.
KEY COUGARS
- Butler scored a season-high 18 points and grabbed five rebounds.
- Brzovic (13), Policelli (11) and Smith (10) joined Butler in double-figures.
- Fulton matched his season-high with eight assists with zero turnovers. The junior ranks 24th in the nation in assist/turnover ratio.
GAME NOTES
- The Cougar bench outscored the Pride 29-0
- Charleston sank 12 triples compared to Hofstra's six.
- With two threes, Smith moved into sole possession of the third most triples in school history (222).
- The win was the first for the Cougars in Hempstead since 2018.
UP NEXT
- Charleston, now 10-4, will stay on Long Island to play Stony Brook Saturday evening. Action is set for 6:30 p.m.
