CHARLESTON – Zac Cuthbertson collected his sixth double-double of the season, but in the end, the home-standing Cougars of Charleston came away with a 73-71 victory.
Charleston only hit two three-point field goals in the second half, but it was Jarrell Brantley’s three with 1.1 seconds left that gave the Cougars the two-point victory.
Cuthbertson led the way for CCU with 19 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. The Chants shot 52 percent (29-56) from the field compared to 44 percent (28-64) for Charleston.
Trevion Brown had 16 points, including a key three-pointer that gave the Chants the 71-70 lead. Ajay Sanders finished with 13 points and seven rebounds and David Kralj finished with 10 points.
The Chants hit nine-of-23 (39%) of its threes. The problem was CCU’s inability to get to the free throw line as they only attempted five free throws, hitting four (80%).
Brantley led Charleston with 22 points and Grant Riller added 20. Those two players entered the game averaging over 20 points per game and hit their averages.
The biggest difference in the game was Charleston’s ability to hit 12 of its 16 free throw attempts, which turned out to be the difference in the game.
CCU had 14 assists with Cuthbertson and Sanders tying for game-high honors with five.
The Cougars carried a 34-32 lead into the locker room at the half with Brantley and Riller scoring 10 each. Charleston shot 41 percent from the field and only hit three of its 14 three-point attempts.
Brown led all scorers with 13 points for the Chants on five-of-seven shooting. He hit three of his four three-point attempts. CCU shot 48 percent from the field and hit six-of-15 from beyond the three-point line.
The Chants will take a few days off to spend Christmas with their families. CCU will jump into conference play on the road when they travel to Alabama to face Troy Jan. 3 and South Alabama Jan. 5.
