CofC Fall To Drexel 70-69 Thursday Night

After suffering their first loss at home this past Saturday to Hofstra, putting an end to a stellar 20 game win streak and dropping outside of the AP Top 25, the College of Charleston men’s basketball team hit the road for two games this week. The Cougars would hope to rebound with a win Thursday night at Drexel. Although they scored 81 points against Hofstra in defeat, Charleston shot miserably from 3-point land, making only 5 of 31 from beyond arc.

Could the Cougars rebound in Philadelphia? Despite having four players finish in double figures, shooting 52 percent in the first half, and leading by eight at the break, CofC falter in the final minutes allowing the Dragons to escape with a 70-69 win over the Cougars. Drexel improve to 13-10 on the season and 7-4 in the CAA.

As Charleston did on Saturday the long ball failed them, ending the contest just 5 of 23 from beyond the arc, with a six players going a combined 0 for 13 from downtown. Dalton Bolon who is easily one of the Cougars best 3-point shooters went 2 of 3 from that mark leading Charleston with 19 points in defeat. Ben Burnham came in off the bench hitting 6 of 10 from the floor to add 14 points for the Cougars. With the loss CofC fall to 21-3 and 9-2 in conference play.

It was pretty much a one or two possession game for the first 10 minutes of action with Drexel maintaining the lead, up by as much as five early in the contest. When Charleston’s Babacar Faye nailed his lone 3-pointer the Cougars took their first lead (15-13) near the midway point. That fueled a 16-2 run that found the CofC up 29-17 under the five minute mark. The home team would head into the locker room down 35-28 at intermission.

It was a tale of two halves for the visitors. The Cougars managed to hold on to a double digit lead for 10 minutes in the second period before the Dragons slowly began to eat away at the lead. Up by as many as nine points on several occasions past the midway mark, the Cougars started to come up short on offense allowing Drexel to draw closer. When Coletrane Washington drained a missile the home team drew within three (64-61) with 4:24 left to play.

When Bolon hit his second 3-pointer the Cougars went up 69-64 with 2:19 remaining and a potential road win in their grasp. However, four straight from the foul line by the Dragons including a short jumper by Justin Moore with four seconds left sealed the win for Drexel. Ryan Larson’s long range shot was off the mark as time expired leaving the Cougars and faithful fans pondering the late game turn of events.

Larson and Pat Robinson III added 10 points apiece for the Cougars, with Jaylon Scott leading the team with eight rebounds. Drexel had three players in double figures with Amari Williams matching Bolon with a game tying 19 points while hauling in a game best 13 rebounds. Fellow Dragon teammates Moore and Washington chipped in 16 and 13 respectively.

Much like the Hofstra contest, the second half stats did the Cougars in. After shooting 52 percent in the first 20 minutes of play CofC made just 12 of 35 attempts including 2 of 14 from long range. Perhaps the lone bright spot was that Charleston got 28 points from the bench with Burnham accounting for half of that total.

The Cougars will make the short trip to Delaware for a Saturday battle with the Blue Hens. The teams previously met on January 7 in Charleston where the Cougars secured the 75-64 win. Action is set for 2:00 p.m. in the Bob Carpenter Center.