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The top-seeded Charleston Cougars navigated back-to-back scares in the semifinals and finals of the CAA Tournament to advance to its second consecutive NCAA Tournament.
The Cougars took down Towson in Monday’s semifinal 61-56 and beat the tournament Cinderella, Stony Brook, in Tuesday’s Final 82-79 in overtime.
“This team is special, Charleston is special,” Head Coach Pat Kelsey said after the game.
The Cougars fell behind early before recapturing the lead in a first half full of runs, eventually heading into the locker room down 40-35 after Stony Brook’s 25-13 run to close out the half.
In the second, Charleston’s star Ante Brzovic vaulted the Cougars in-front in the early minutes of the half.
From there, the game was controlled by Charleston, while the Seawolves refused to quit. Stony Brook’s Tyler Stephenson-Moore led all scorers with 26 points in the game, including 7-12 from three.
Stony Brook’s last lead came with just over 17 minutes to play. Meanwhile, Charleston opened up its largest lead at 66-56 with under 9 minutes to go, before the Seawolves once again clawed their way back.
Senior Aaron Clarke scored 11 points for Stony Brook in the last 10 minutes of regulation, including 5 straight points to tie the game at 73 with just over 2 minutes to go.
In the final 2 minutes, Charleston missed three shots while Stony Brook failed to capitalize on final possession of regulation as Charleston’s Reyne Smith secured a crucial steal to keep Clarke from getting a shot off, sending the CAA Final into overtime.
Charleston's Reyne Smith carried the Cougars in Tuesday's OT win (Photo: Charleston Athletics)
In OT, Smith, who won Most Outstanding Player for the CAA Tournament, scored 8 of Charleston’s 9 points as the Cougars pulled away to victory against the fatigued Seawolves.
Stony Brook knocked down a couple of late three’s to keep the game close, but failed to score in the first four minutes of overtime, leaving too much ground to make up.
A miraculous run for SBU came to an end as the top-seeded Cougars once again advanced to the NCAA Tournament with a 82-79 win in OT of the CAA Title Game.
Over the last two years, Charleston holds an overall record of 58-11, operating as a ‘high-major’ program in the eyes of many.
The Cougars program is beginning to be referred to as the “Gonzaga of the East,” dominating the CAA over the last two years with a 31-5 record in the conference.
Two straight tournament championships could just be the start to what Pat Kelsey is starting to build. What his program needs now is its first NCAA Tournament win since 1997 and its second ever tournament win in school history.