Cougars Control Second Half to Top Pride

Thursday, January 29

Hempstead, N.Y.

7:00 PM

College of Charleston

14-8,7-2CAA

Hofstra

13-9,4-5CAA

Col. of Charleston

Hofstra

1/29/2026 9:49:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – The College of Charleston men's basketball team overcame a first half deficit to defeat the Hofstra Pride 66-64 on Thursday night in Long Island. With the win, the Cougars move to 14-8 overall and 7-2 in CAA play.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Connor Hickman scored the first points of the contest on a make from deep before the Cougars fell cold for six minutes. Hofstra started with the same struggles, going 1-8 from the field during the stretch.
The Pride took the momentum, shooting 40% from the field compared to Charleston's 19% through the opening ten minutes of play to take a 15-9 lead.
A Chol Machot block on the defensive end led to a Jlynn Counter driving layup followed by a Martin Kalu slam dunk on the next possession to shift the energy and cut the deficit to four at 26-22 with four minutes to play. The Cougars struggled from that point on, scoring just one more point to enter the locker room down 30-23. Machot recorded five blocks in the frame.

MARTIN SLAM ?? Timeout Pride pic.twitter.com/OufReVQdXf
— Charleston Basketball (@CofCBasketball) January 30, 2026

The Pride took their largest lead of the contest at 40-29 four minutes into the second half before Counter took over, scoring four straight from the field for Charleston to make it a four-point game.
A 7-0 Charleston run behind post play from Christian Reeves and a Chris David Jr. triple tied the game 47-47 with eight minutes to play. The Cougars took their first lead since the opening possession on a pair of Counter makes from the line before extending it to a six-point lead, their largest of the game, in the midst of a 16-3 run.

2H 14:24 | CofC 36, HU 42@CounterJlynn with our last three makes from the field pic.twitter.com/tiUgKE2cuf
— Charleston Basketball (@CofCBasketball) January 30, 2026

Hofstra cut it to 65-62 with forty seconds to play and secured possession on a jump ball. The Cougars defense held strong, forcing a shot clock violation with 14.2 seconds to play.
The Pride had two chances as time expired to send to overtime but could not connect, securing the 66-64 Cougar victory.

KEY COUGARS

Counter had a game-high 22 points, scoring 20 in the second half. The graduate student added ten rebounds and five assists for his second career double-double.
Reeves recorded his third straight double-double, contributing 16 points and 13 rebounds.
Machot was the final Cougar with double-figure rebounds, grabbing ten.
Kalu and Hickman added eight points each.

2H 3:20 | CofC 58, HU 50

DUGGAN SLAM ?? pic.twitter.com/njKn9Xcflz
— Charleston Basketball (@CofCBasketball) January 30, 2026

GAME NOTES

Charleston shot 38% from the field compared to 33% from Hofstra.
The Pride narrowly won the rebounding battle 50-49.
The Cougars committed just nine turnovers, two in the second half.
This is Charleston's fourth win of the season when trailing at the break. The Cougars move to 12-10 all-time against the Pride.
Charleston is 6-0 this season in games decided by five points or less.

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