WASHINGTON, D.C. – The No. 1 College of Charleston men's basketball team defeated No .8 Monmouth 83-59 to advance to the semifinals of the 2024 Jersey Mikes CAA Championship.

Charleston jumped out a 9-3 lead behind back-to-back early buckets from Kobe Rodgers. The teams played back-and-forth before Frankie Policelli took over from the behind arc. The graduate went 3-5 from deep to help give the Cougars their largest lead of the game at 28-19 with just under nine minutes to play.

The Hawks went on a mini run, connecting on three straight from the field before a Rodgers drive to the basket stopped the momentum.

The Cougars continued to roll, entering the locker room up 44-29. Policelli had 11 points in the first half as Charleston shot just under 50% in the frame.

Monmouth came out of the locker room on a 9-2 run to cut the lead to single digits at 52-43. Charleston responded with a 14-2 run with points from Ante Brzovic, Ben Burnham and Policelli.

The Cougars continued to bring the energy and cruised through the remaining final minutes, highlighted by slam dunks from Rodgers and James Scott.

KEY COUGARS

• Burnham led the Cougars with 16 points followed by Brzovic with 15 and Policelli with 14.
• Brzovic grabbed a game-high nine rebounds while CJ Fulton dished out seven assists.

GAME NOTES

• The Charleston bench outscored Monmouth 21-5.
• The Cougars shot 51% from the field.

UP NEXT

• Charleston, now 25-7 on the year, moves on to the semifinal round where they will face either No. 4 UNCW or No. 5 Towson. Action is set for 6:00 p.m. at the Entertainment & Sports Arena.