WASHINGTON, D.C. – The College of Charleston men's basketball team came back to defeat No. 5 Towson 61-56 in a thrilling fashion to earn a spot in the CAA title game.
Ante Brzovic started the Cougars with a slam dunk before both teams fell cold for a four-minute stretch. Five points from
Bryce Butler helped spark a 7-0 run to put the Cougars up 11-5 with 12 minutes to play.
Charleston went on a two-minute scoring drought shortly after to allow the Tigers to come within one at 14-13 before back-to-back
Reyne Smith triples swung the momentum back to Charleston.
Towson took their first lead of the game at 23-22 with five minutes to play in the first half and followed it up with a 6-0 run. Smith closed out the half with his third three of the night and a steal and score at the buzzer to send the Cougars to the locker room up 31-30. Smith led Charleston with 11 in the half.
After the Tigers scored the first points of the second half, Charleston went on a 6-0 run before going cold from the field for the next five minutes. The contest had already totaled 11 lead changes with ten minutes left to play.
Trailing by as much as seven,
CJ Fulton cut the Towson advantage to three at 55-52 with two minutes left to play. The teams traded buckets until
Kobe Rodgers tied the game on two free throws.
Brzovic blocked a Towson driving attempt and followed it up with another dunk on the offensive end with thirty seconds left to play to give the Cougars their first lead since 14:30 in the second half.
Meanwhile, Towson went scoreless for nearly four minutes and had a chance to make it a one-point game on a failed 1-and-1 opportunity. Three Smith free throws sealed the dramatic win for Charleston.
KEY COUGARS
- Smith had a game-high 16 points followed by Butler with 13 and Frankie Policelli with ten.
- Brzovic led the Cougars on the board with six followed by Policelli and Smith with five each.
GAME NOTES
- Charleston narrowly won the rebounding battle 36-33.
- The Cougars went on a 13-1 run to end the game.
- With their 11th straight win, the Cougars currently have the nation's second longest winning streak behind James Madison.
- The Cougars will look for back-to-back titles tomorrow evening, a feat that has not been accomplished in the league since UNCW won two straight in 2016 and 20
UP NEXT
- No. 1 Charleston, now 26-7, will take on the winner of No. 3 Hofstra and No. 7 Stony Brook tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. on CBS Sports Network
- Cougar fans can also listen to the Voice of the Cougars Everett German on the Varsity App.
