CHARLESTON, S.C. (Nov. 20, 2022) - The College of Charleston men's basketball team won their first ever Shriners Children's Charleston Classic in front of a sold out TD Arena crowd on Sunday night in Charleston, taking down reigning ACC Champion Virginia Tech 77-75.
The Cougars defeated Davidson, Colorado State and Virginia Tech en route to the title. So far this season,
Pat Kelsey's program has only played teams that participated in the 2022 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament and are 5-1 on the season.
Charleston started the contest going 4-for-5 from the field before going on an 11-0 run to take a 23-12 advantage behind baskets from five different Cougars. A three from
Ryan Larson with two minutes remaining in the half sent the Cougars to the locker room up 35-30 while holding the entire Virginia Tech bench scoreless in the frame.
The Hokies' gained momentum in out of the locker room, taking the lead just three minutes into the half. Virginia Tech's largest lead came at 61-53 with eight minutes remaining in the contest. The Cougars slowly kept pace behind back-to-back triples from
Ante Brzovic to cut the lead to four at 63-59.
Still holding relentless pursuit, a driving
Pat Robinson III ied the game at 70-70 with two minutes to go before another Brzovic triple put CofC up 73-70. The teams traded points to 75-75 with 30 second left before Kelsey called a timeout to hold for one last shot. Robinson III cut the clock to three seconds before driving to the basket to make it 77-75. With three seconds to go, the Hokies sailed a half court attempt that fell short giving Charleston to title of Charleston Classic Champions.
The Cougars outrebounded the Hokies 27-25 on the defensive side of the ball while shooting 50.8% from the field in the second half. The Cougars continue to play ten men deep, totaling 40 bench points compared to Virginia Tech's five points from the reserves.
Larson earned Tournament MVP honors. The graduate student averaged 14.3 points through the tournament and 2.3 rebounds per game while shooting 56% from behind the arc.
Brzovic paced four Cougars in double figures with 15 points followed by Robinson III with 14, Larson with 12 and
Reyne Smith with 10.
Babacar Faye grabbed eight rebounds while Larson and
Jaylon Scott each dished out three assists. Robinson III went 7-for-9 from the field.
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Release courtesy of Charleston Athletic Communications