Cougars Thwart Wildcat Rally For 89-66 Victory In Charleston Classic

Game four of the ESPN Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic pit two former Southern Conference rivals, as the Davidson Wildcats brought their 3-0 record to the low country to take on the 2-1 College of Charleston Cougars in the late game on day one of the tournament. Both teams were coming off narrow victories over teams from Virginia, with Davidson downing VMI 75-71 on Sunday, and CofC edging Richmond 92-90 in overtime on Monday night.

The Wildcats came to Charleston with a balanced scoring attack lead by senior guard Foster Loyer who has scored 30 plus in two games this season. A definite threat from 3-point land Loyer had knocked down 14 treys over three games before facing CofC. The Cougars had hoped to answer with Reyne Smith, who was coming off 29 points with eight triples against the Spiders earlier in the week.

Neither were part of their individual teams offensive threat as they combined for six total points, with Smith going 0-3 from long range picking up his lone two points from the foul line. Loyer was held in check as well finishing 2 of 8 missing both attempts from long range.

Thankfully the Cougars have several players who know how to light up the scoreboard, with Dalton Bolon and Ryan Larson tying for a game best 21 points apiece, with each knocking down five 3-pointers as well. CofC coach Pat Kelsey likes to say his team is 10 deep, with the Cougars getting 44 points Friday night off the bench with Ben Burnham and Pat Robinson chipping in 13 each.

It was a classic battle of the big cats as the two teams battled for 40 minutes with the Cougars taking control early on and leading for more than 36 minutes in the contest. Despite giving up an 19 point advantage in the second period, allowing Davidson to draw within a single possession Charleston found late game offense cruising to decisive 89-66 win.

A couple of treys by Bolon and Larson gave the Cougars a jump start. Two free throws by Desmond Watson gave the Wildcats their biggest lead (10-7) four minutes into the contest. But when Robinson made a layup with 15:04 on the clock Charleston never relinquished the lead, extending their advantage to 12 (30-18) when Larson hit from long range with just over seven minutes to play in the first half. CofC would go on to take a 44-30 advantage into the locker room.

But the Wildcats were relentless, slowing chipping away at the margin. When David Skogman drained one of Davidson’s four treys with just under 12 minutes remaining the Wildcats trailed 54-51 with Cougar fans hoping not to see a repeat of Monday night. Charleston recovered in what they term as four minute wars, quickly extending the margin to 19 with less than four minutes to play.

Up by 14 at the break Coach Kelsey didn’t expect the Wildcats to just roll over in the final 20 minutes of play. “Davidson is a national brand. Matt is a phenomenal coach. They are very difficult to prepare for. But our guys were up for the challenge. They responded when they punched us in the mouth coming out of halftime.” Kelsey added his players came together and decided they were going to win the final four minute wars.

The final stats stats favored the winning team with CofC outrebounding Davidson 42-32 hauling in 19 offensive boards with four Cougars each grabbing seven apiece. Davidson’s Sam Mennenga had a game high eight rebounds, besides leading his team with 19 points. Grant Huffman and Connor Kochera added 17 and 12 points respectively. Perhaps the biggest difference came from beyond the arc where the Cougars made 12 to just 4 for the Wildcats.

Although the game was played in TD Arena, Charleston was not the home team. By tournament standards it remains a neutral site. However when it’s played in the Holy City and the Cougars can participate every fourth year Coach Kelsey admits it provides home team advantage.

“I think the atmosphere was phenomenal tonight. The study body was terrific. I want to give a shout out to Dr. Hsu and our administration for comping the student tickets. I think a 1000 tickets the school paid for which is great and shows their investment in the student body and our basketball program.”

Both teams enter day two of the ESPN Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic with 3-1 records. Davidson fall into the loser’s bracket and take on South Carolina in the late game Friday night. Charleston will take on Colorado State who easily downed the Gamecocks 85-33.