Charleston Pulls Away to Advance to CAA Semifinals
Rob Washburn
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WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 10, 2024) – Junior forward Ben Burnham scored 12 of his team-high 16 points in the second half to help top-seeded Charleston pull away for an 83-59 victory over 8
th-seeded Monmouth in the first quarterfinal game of the Jersey Mike’s CAA Men’s Basketball Championship on Sunday afternoon at the Entertainment & Sports Arena.
It was the 10
th straight win for the defending champion Cougars (25-7), who advance to Monday’s 6 p.m. semifinal contest against either UNCW or Towson. Monmouth closed its season with an 18-15 record.
Burnham was one of four Charleston starters in double figures. Ante Brzovic contributed 15 points and a team-high nine rebounds, Frankie Policelli added 14 points and Kobe Rodgers scored 13.
Monmouth was led offensively by All-CAA guard Xander Rice with 16 points and freshman Jaret Valencia with 15 points.
Monmouth got 10 points in the opening nine minutes from Rice, whose three -pointer tied the game at 18-18. However, Charleston went on a 15-2 run over the next four minutes behind Policelli, who nailed a pair of treys and tallied eight points during the stretch that put the Cougars ahead 33-19 with 6:59 left in the period. Policelli finished the opening half with 11 points as Charleston took a 44-29 advantage into the break.
Charleston scored the first six points of the second half to push its lead to 21, but the Hawks battled back. Threes from Jack Collins and Valencia followed by back-to-back buckets from Nikita Konstantynovskyi were part of an 18-4 surge that made it 54-47 with 12:30 remaining.
The Cougars answered quickly, hitting six consecutive field goals during a 14-0 run. Burnham contributed eight points during the key stretch, making a pair of three-pointers and then converting a layup that put Charleston in control, 68-57, with 7:37 to go. The Cougars maintained at least a 17-point advantage the rest of the way.
Charleston shot 50.8% from the floor for the game, including 55.2% (16-29) in the second half. Monmouth hit 36.8% of its field goal attempts.
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