Dalton Bolon and reserve Ben Burnham both scored 13 points and No. 23 College of Charleston responded in the final 9 1/2 minutes after falling behind to beat Delaware 75-64 on Saturday at Charleston, S.C.
Ryan Larson’s 12 points and Ante Brzovic’s 11 points and 12 rebounds were also key for the Cougars (16-1, 4-0 Colonial Athletic Association).
Charleston used a 24-7 scoring edge on free throws and a 46-36 rebounding margin to win its 15th game in a row.
Jyare Davis racked up 18 points, Christian Ray had 14 points, Cavan Reilly posted 12 points and LJ Owens added 10 points for Delaware (9-7, 1-2).
The Cougars were playing just their second game as a ranked team in two decades. In the first, they cruised to Wednesday’s road victory at North Carolina A&T, so come Saturday, they were showered with cheers from their fans in a sold-out arena.
Delaware took a one-point lead with 11:34 to play, wiping out what had been a nine-point hole earlier in the half.
But shortly afterward, the Cougars had a response, scoring seven straight points in a 78-second stretch to go up 57-51.
Burnham had all six of Charleston’s points during an 80-second span that provided a 65-55 lead with 5:05 to play.
Charleston ended up shooting just 37.7 percent from the field. But Delaware’s 3-for-15 effort on 3-point tries didn’t allow the Blue Hens to make a final surge.
Charleston held the largest lead through the first 16 minutes, going up by four on three occasions.
Burnham scored the last five points in the Cougars’ 8-0 run that established a 31-22 lead. The score was 35-27 at halftime.
Delaware stayed within range largely because of Davis’ 13 first-half points.
The Cougars benefitted from 15-for-19 shooting on free-throw attempts in the first half compared to Delaware’s 2-for-3. The Cougars shot only 32.1 percent from the floor before halftime.
–Field Level Media
