CofC Fall to Hofstra 89-84 in Season Finale

Back-to-Back Road Losses Make Cougars 6th Seed in CAA Championship

By: Jeff Walker, Sportswriter / CAA Media

The College of Charleston men’s basketball team close out the regular season with back-to-back losses as they fall on the road to Hofstra Monday night. After leading the entire contest on Saturday CofC lost in the final seconds to Drexel 80-79. It was a different scenario on Monday as the Cougars struck first against Hofstra, only to trail throughout the game, falling 89-84 to the Pride.

Despite falling behind by double digits on several occasions Charleston kept within one or two possessions for most of the contest. The final stats mirrored a close contest with both teams shooting well from the floor. Each team added 11 from long distance, with the lone advantage being the home team made a few more trips to the free throw line. CofC won the battle on the glass out-rebounding Hofstra 39-30. The lone stat that cost the Cougars a potential win, was a season high 28 turnovers.

Charleston had well rounded scoring overall. Coming off a strong offensive output over the weekend Reyne Smith made 5 of 7 from beyond the arc to finish with 19 points. Teammate Ben Burnham went 3 of 4 from 3-point land to add 19 points to go along with a season best 13 rebounds. Babacar Faye came in off the bench hitting 4 of 6 shots for 10 points. John Meeks who’s gaining strength after a recent knee injury and Raekwon Horton ended up scoring nine points respectively.

A short jumper by Dimitrius Underwood would put the Cougars up 2-0 after a minute and a half of play. Two minutes later a dunk by Horton tied the game at four. Charleston would be playing catch up for the remainder of the contest. When Hofstra’s Zach Cooks nailed a 3-pointer CofC was down 35-24 with under four minutes left in the first half. The Pride would enjoy the same 11-point margin at the break, up 42-31 heading into the locker room.

Hofstra continued to dominate in the second half. The home team would enjoy a 12-point lead with 13:33 still to play. Behind a missile by Aaron Estrada under the eight-minute mark the Pride would hold onto a 10-point (68-58) lead. The Cougars would rally late, putting together a 26-19 run capped off by a pair of free throws by Smith with eight ticks on the clock that pulled them within one possession.

Forced to foul Jalen Ray made both for the Pride. Down by five Meeks missed a 3-pointer with three seconds on the clock which sealed the victory for Hofstra. With the loss the College of Charleston finish the regular season 16-14 overall and 8-10 in the CAA. Charleston will be the sixth seed in the CAA Championship beginning Saturday.

Hofstra was led by Estrada who finished 9 of 15 overall including 4 of 7 from beyond the arc for a game best 28 points. Omar Silverio and Jarrod Simmons came in off the bench to pump in 19 and 10 points respectively for Hofstra. With the victory the Pride finish 21-10, 13-5 CAA and claim the third seed in the next weekend’s CAA Championship.

Monday’s results complete the pairings for the upcoming Colonial Athletic Association Men’s Basketball Championship presented by Jersey Mike’s at the Entertainment & Sports Arena in Washington, D.C. No. 8 seed William & Mary (5-26, 4-14 CAA) will face No. 9 seed Northeastern (8-21, 2-16 CAA) in the Opening Round game on Saturday at 5 p.m. to begin the Championship with the winner advancing to Sunday.

No. 1 seed Towson (24-7, 15-3 CAA) will play the winner of the opener to begin a four-game day Sunday at noon with the early session also including No. 4 Drexel (15-13, 10-8 CAA) squaring off with No. 5 Delaware (19-12, 10-8 CAA) at 2:30 p.m. The evening session begins at 6 p.m. with No. 2 UNCW (21-8, 15-3 CAA) playing No. 7 Elon (10-21, 7-11 CAA) and the night concluding with No. 3 Hofstra (21-10, 13-5 CAA) clashing with No. 6 Charleston (16-14, 8-10 CAA) at 8:30 p.m. Opening round and quarterfinal action can be seen on FloHoops.

Semifinal action will be played Monday, March 7 with games beginning at 6 and 8:30 p.m.; the two winners will meet for the conference title and automatic qualifier to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship on Tuesday, March 8 at 7 p.m. The semifinals and championship game will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network.

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