Charleston Advances to Quarterfinals
Rob Washburn
BALTIMORE (March 4, 2016) – Junior guard Payton Hulsey scored a team-high 18 points, and sophomore guard Cameron Johnson blocked a potential game-tying field goal in the final seconds as College of Charleston defeated Delaware 67-63 Friday in the second opening-round game of the Colonial Athletic Association Men’s Basketball Championship at Royal Farms Arena.
Seventh-seeded College of Charleston raised its record to 17-13 and advances to a 6 p.m. Saturday tournament quarterfinal meeting with second-seeded UNCW. Tenth-seeded Delaware fell to 7-23.
Hulsey hit on seven of 10 shots from the field and had nine rebounds, five assists and a tournament-game-record tying seven steals in 29 minutes. He scored six of his team’s final 11 points.
Johnson’s block of Delaware sophomore guard Kory Holden’s shot with three seconds remaining was the game’s key defensive play. The Blue Hens trailed only 65-63 when Holden was denied on a driving attempt from the left side. College of Charleston freshman forward Jerrell Brantley rebounded the blocked attempt and hit two free throws with one second to play to seal the Cougar victory. Brantley’s successful free throw attempts came after teammates had converted on only one of six chances from the foul line during the final 2:28.
Holden had gotten Delaware to within 64-63 on driving layup with 21 seconds left, and College of Charleston sophomore forward Evan Bailey raised his team’s lead to 65-63 by hitting the second of two free throws with 13.6 seconds to play.
Holdan kept Delaware close with a game-high 30 points. He hit on 10 of 25 shots, including five of 12 attempts from three-point range. The second-team All-CAA honoree also had seven rebounds in 37 minutes.
Brantley and Bailey joined Hulsey in double figures in scoring for College of Charleston with 13 points each. Brantley also had 10 rebounds, three assists and a three-point field goal, and Bailey had two three-pointers.
Sophomore forward Skye Johnson added 15 points on seven-of-eight shooting and five rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench for Delaware.
College of Charleston outscored Delaware 13-4 to close the first half and led 35-28 at the break and 39-28 early during the final period, but Delaware pulled into a 43-43 tie on Holden basket with 13:07 left. Holden’s three-pointer with 11:02 remaining gave his team a 49-46 lead, but Bailey put the Cougars in front to stay 56-54 with a three-pointer with 7:51 left. The College of Charleston lead reached 60-54 on two Brantley free throws at the 5:39 mark, but two Hulsey field goals were the Cougars’ only points the rest of the way until Bailey’s made free throw at 13.6-second mark.
Hulsey tied the tournament game record of seven steals set by Richmond’s Gerald Jarmon in a 1994 game against East Carolina at the Richmond Coliseum. College of Charleston was credited with 14 steals.