Cougars Smoking Hot From 3-Pt. Land, Going 15 of 22 From Beyond the Arc,  Charleston Remain In First Place in CAA

Jeff Walker, Sports Writer

Back on January 18th the Towson Tigers men's basketball team blew into Charleston and clawed their way to an 82-78 win over the College of Charleston, putting an end to a nine game winning streak by CofC. Whether it was revenge or national TV exposure on the CBS Sports Network, the Cougars got even in the battle of the big cats, downing the Tigers Saturday afternoon 72-56 on Towson's home turf.

It was pretty much a balanced attack by Charleston with 10 of 13 players scoring for CofC. Frankie Policelli led all scorers finishing with a game high 17 points. Reyne Smith was the only other Cougar in double figures with 12 points. Combined they were 10 of 16 from long range with Smith going 4 of 6 from beyond the arc. As a team Charleston had their best outing from 3-point land, going 15 of 22 from long range for 64% overall.

Despite being out-rebounded by Towson (28-27) and and being matched equally in bench points (23-22), it was the 45 points from beyond the arc that made the difference. Honestly, the Cougars were in command almost the entire contest and only trailed one time for 32 seconds, when Towson's Nende Tarke drained one of the Tigers four 3-pointers to give the home team an 11-10 lead with 13:38 remaining in the opening period.

The game would be tied at 14 all before Charleston went on a 20-8 run for their first double digit lead. The Cougars would close out the half on a 6-4 run to take a 14 point (40-26) advantage at the break.

CofC took some offensive pills at the half, with Policelli pushing their lead to 20 on back to back threes. There was no letting up as the Cougars extended their margin to 27 (61-34) midway through the period. The Tigers would cut the lead to 15 points under the three minute mark, but it was too little too late, as Charleston extend their current winning streak to seven games.

It was a total team effort for the Cougars with Ben Burnham going 3 of 3 from long range for nine points. Kobe Rodgers added two missiles to finish with nine points as well, with Bryce Butler chipping in eight points. With the win Charleston maintain first place in the CAA, at 13-3, and 22-7 overall. 

Towson had some balanced scoring as well with three players in double figures. Dylan Williamson came in off the bench to lead the Tigers with 13 points. Charles Thompson and Christian May pumped in 12 and 10 respectively for the home team. Thompson grabbed a game best eight rebounds. Towson fall to 17-12 on the season and 10-6 in league play.

Coming off a 90-71 win over Delaware on Thursday, and heading into the home stretch in the CAA conference, CofC Head Coach Pat Kelsey understands how crucial wins are when the team is out of town. "It's been a great road trip. We preach road excellence all the time. That's one of our mantras in our program. We always talk about packing two pairs of defense."

Coach Kelsey added while he allows for the players to enjoy the overall experience he and his staff keep them focused. "We have fun on the bus, on the plane, and at the hotel. But it's business when we're on the road. This teams attention to detail is superb."

Charleston returns home for their final two season games, welcoming Campbell to TD Arena on Thursday, February 29. Action is set for 7:00 p.m. at TD Arena. The Cougars close out the regular season hosting Hofstra at 2pm on Saturday.