Second-Half Surge Lifts Charleston to CAA Title
Rob Washburn
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WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 7, 2023) – Second-seeded Charleston rallied from an eight-point deficit over the final six minutes to defeat fourth-seeded UNCW, 63-58, and capture the Jersey Mike’s CAA Men’s Basketball Championship on Tuesday night at the Entertainment & Sports Arena.
The Cougars improved to 31-3 after their 10
th consecutive victory, breaking the conference record for most wins in a season set by Navy in 1985-86. The CAA title was the second for Charleston, which also took home the trophy in 2018, and earned them an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
UNCW, which reached the CAA title game for the second year in a row and 13
th time overall, fell to 24-10 after the setback.
Trailing 53-45 with 6:13 to go, Charleston reeled off 12 unanswered points. Guard Ryan Larson, who was selected as the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, spurred the comeback by scoring six straight points and then assisting on a layup by Jaylon Scott that put the Cougars ahead 57-53 with 2:54 left.
UNCW trimmed the deficit to one on a Donovan Newby three-pointer, but the Cougars’ Ante Brzovic hit back-to-back jumpers to make it 63-58 with 29 seconds remaining. A bucket from the Seahawks’ Trazarien White made it a one-possession game, but Reyne Smith sank a pair of free throws with 12 seconds remaining to secure the victory.
Larson finished with a game-high 23 points and also made four steals, while Brzovic contributed 16 points, a team-high eight rebounds and two blocks. Amari Kelly tallied 16 points and a team-best nine rebounds for UNCW and Trazarien White had 16 points and six boards.
Neither team led by more than five points in a hard-fought opening half that featured five ties and four lead changes. A three-point play by Pat Robinson III put Charleston in front, 22-21, with 4:28 left in period.
UNCW answered with six straight points capped by a Maleeck Harden-Hayes layup to take its largest lead, 27-22, with 52 seconds to go. Larson’s layup ended a nearly four-minute scoring drought for the Cougars and pulled them within 27-24 at the break.
After shooting just 34.5% in the opening 20 minutes, Charleston’s offense got going to start the second half. Behind eight points from Brzovic and a pair of Larson treys, the Cougars went on a 16-4 spurt to go up 40-31 with 14:46 remaining.
However UNCW, which overcame 12-point deficits to win its first two tournament games, came roaring back once again. Keyed by 11 points from White and six from Kelly, the Seahawks responded with an 18-2 run over the next five minutes to regain the advantage, 49-42 with 9:51 on the clock.
Charleston shot just 40.4% from the floor, including 6-of-26 from 3-point range, but made 10 steals and forced 17 turnovers. UNCW shot 40.7% for the game and hit only 3-of-14 from beyond the arc.
CAA ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Ante Brzovic, Charleston
Aaron Estrada, Hofstra
Ryan Larson, Charleston
Donovan Newby, UNCW
Nicolas Timberlake, Towson
Trazarien White, UNCW
Most Outstanding Player: Ryan Larson, Charleston
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