CHARLESTON, S.C. - The College of Charleston men's basketball team defeated North Carolina A&T 80-58 Thursday night in TD Arena.
 
Reyne Smith went on a personal 5-0 run in the early minutes to help the Cougars to build a 14-8 lead.
 
The Charleston defense forced a two-minute scoring drought for the visitors just before the Aggies responded by forcing four Cougar turnovers in four minutes. From then on, it was all Cougars. Smith drained a triple to highlight a 10-0 run as the CofC offense continued to surge taking a 40-27 advantage into the locker room.
 
The Aggies went on a 6-0 run out of the locker room to cut their deficit to nine. The Cougars responded with an 8-0 run of their own highlighted by threes from Jordan Crawford and Ben Burnham. Smith and Frankie Policelli silenced another brief Aggie run with back-to-back treys.
 
Burnham ignited the home crowd with a second-chance slam dunk poster to push the Cougar advantage to 72-56. The Cougars ended the game on a 7-0 run holding the Aggies to zero points in the final three minutes of the contest.
 
Key Cougars

• Burnham led the team with 21 points, his fourth 20-point game of the season.
• Smith scored 17 points behind five triples. Ante Brzovic added 11 points, and Crawford had ten to round out the double-figure scorers.
• Policelli grabbed a season-high 16 rebounds, the third most by any CAA player this season.

Game Notes

• Charleston dominated the rebounding game 50-34 with 17 offensive boards.
• CofC's bench continued to shine with 21 points. Charleston ranks seventh in the nation in bench points per game.
• The Cougars held NC A&T to just two three-pointers, the lowest from any opponent this season.

Up Next

• Charleston, now 17-7 and 8-3 in CAA play, will welcome Drexel to town Saturday. Tip is set for 3:30 in TD Arena.
• The Cougars and Dragons have matching 8-3 CAA records in a game that will have postseason implications.