Cougars Top UMass, Advance to Paradise Jam Winners Bracket

Friday, November 21

St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

3:00 PM EST

College of Charleston

3-3,0-0CAA

UMass

3-2,0-0MAC

Massachusetts

Col. of Charleston

Cougars Top UMass, Advance to Paradise Jam Winners Bracket

11/21/2025 8:09:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

ST. THOMAS, USVI – The College of Charleston men's basketball team advanced to the winner's bracket of the 2025 Paradise Jam with a 69-65 win over UMass Friday afternoon the University of the Virgin Islands. The Cougars will now play Yale on Sunday, November 23 at 5:30 p.m. est in the semifinals.

HOW IT HAPPENED

After falling behind 7-0, Mister Dean kickstarted the Cougar offense with an emphatic steal and slam dunk. Charleston proceeded to go on a 7-0 run to make it 12-9 highlighted by a Connor Hickman triple, his first points as a Cougar.
Charleston caused four UMass turnovers in a four-minute stretch to help take their first lead of the game with nine minutes to play on a Chadlyn Traylor make from deep.
Three straight trips to the charity stripe for Will Mortimore helped the Cougars take a 29-28 lead into the half. Both teams fell cold from the field to end the frame no field goals made in the final three minutes of play.
Martin Kalu started the offense in the second half with a driving layup, the catalyst to a 6-0 Cougar run.
UMass came back to make it a one-point game at 41-40 with 14 minutes to play before taking a 56-51 lead with six minutes to play. In the back-and-forth second half affair, Jaxon Prunty finished on an and-1 opportunity that sealed a 4-5 stretch from the field before Kalu followed suit with an and-1 of his own to make it 66-62.
The Cougars made three successful trips to the charity stripe and limited the UMass offense to secure the victory.

JAX AND-1 ?? pic.twitter.com/Pt5iz76Dg8
— Charleston Basketball (@CofCBasketball) November 21, 2025

KEY COUGARS

Jlynn Counter led Charleston with 12 points and three rebounds, going 4-5 from the field.
Hickman, Traylor, and Kalu all contributed nine points in the balanced attack followed by Dean and Mortimore with eight each.
Chol Machot had a season-high five blocks, tied for the fourth most in a single-game in school history.
Kalu had a team-best four rebounds. Mortimore, Bryce Baker, and Machot joined Counter with three.

2H 3:03 | CofC 64, UMass 59@CounterJlynn's got 12 ?? pic.twitter.com/UPJkDzUJlI
— Charleston Basketball (@CofCBasketball) November 21, 2025

GAME NOTES

The Cougars shot 43% from the field compared to 46% from UMass, just the fourth time in the Mack era the Cougars have won with a lower percentage compared to their competitor.
The Minutemen outrebounded the Cougars 34-24.
Charleston caused 15 UMass turnovers, the most this season for the Cougars vs. a Division I opponent.
The Cougars made a season-high 24 free throws.

UP NEXT

Charleston, now 3-3 on the year, will play Yale Sunday November at 5:30 p.m. est. on ESPN+
As always, Cougar fans can listen to the Voice of the Cougars Everett German on the Varsity App.