Final Score: College of Charleston 83, Charlotte 82
Top Performers:
Willie Clayton 19 points, 13 rebounds (8 offensive)
Canyon Barry 26 points (11-19 FG), 3-6 3PM-A
Willis Hall 16 points, 10 rebounds
I'm still trying to wrap my head around what took place on John Kresse Court last night. The initial draft I writing for what would become this blog post started completely different from what you are about to read. Already in a foul mood for being unable to watch the game (technical difficulties) and only able to listen as the Niners pulled away from the hometown team, at my doom-and-gloomiest I started crafting notes about how this game was over the minute Baru picked up his 5th foul early in the second half.
At that point the Cougars were still down double digits and had completely neglected the space inside the arc offensively. The team became 100% guard and jump shot-oriented and not even the hot shooting of Canyon Barry seemed to be making a dent in Charlotte's lead.
But slowly things started to change.
A few threes sprinkled here and there from the Anthonys Stitt and Thomas started to fall. Charlotte, who had been crushing the offensive boards with Baru absent, started looking sloppy. To couple that, the Niners' free throw shooting went from lukewarm to cold in the final minutes.
By this point I was adjusting this post to reflect that, despite a dreadful end to the first half and mediocre defense throughout the game, the Cougars had shown some real heart by cutting the lead to a respectable margin.
I literally had a tweet that would read "Proud of the comeback but this game was done when Baru picked up his 5th" and with my mouse hovering, about to hit send, freshman Joe Chealey took over.
The sequence starts at around the 1:46 mark in the video above.
12 seconds on the clock, Cougars down 4, Charlotte's ball on the inbound. Chealey jumps in front of the pass, spins and nails a three. The entire play took about a second. That's a phenomenal display of awareness and talent by a teenager who is already dazzling CofC and basketball fans around the country. The play of the night in my opinion.
But it wasn't over yet, the Cougars had only come back far enough to find themselves down one point. Barry immediately fouled Henry to put the Niners on the line with 10 seconds to play.
"I told the guys if (Henry) missed one, get the ball to the front of the rim, if he made both, then we need to get a three-point shot off" said Wojcik after the game.
There are two possible outcomes in that scenario. Henry either splits a pair of free throws or makes them both... Henry would go on to miss both free throws. And that's when the Joe Cool Show reached a fever pitch.
With 10 seconds on the clock and no timeouts, Chealey secured the rebound off Henry's second miss, dribbled coast to coast with total control, drove to the basket where he was met in the air by two Charlotte defenders and wrapped around a pass to Willis Hall for a wide open layup.
That play, with 1.7 seconds left on the clock, completed a comeback that was nothing short of a miracle. 30 points in 7 minutes for the College. No Baru on the floor for any of it. A 14-point 2nd half deficit completely erased. Contributions from everyone on the floor in white.
How's that for a home opener?! Thus, a total overhaul of my game summary was warranted.
This is the type of game that can pay dividends down the road. Right now the students, the fans and the players are pretty hyped. Doug Wojcik deserves a ton of credit for his game management in the final minutes. The Cougs deserve praise not only for the comeback but for also outrebounding the Niners and cutting down on the turnovers since the Newberry and Louisville games. It was far from a perfect game - missed free throws and the slow habituation to the new defensive calls remain major flaws that could hurt the Cougars down the road. But the final quarter of last night's game gave a glimpse of what the Cougars are capable of this year. Depending on how Miami and Toswon fare in the coming days/weeks, Charlotte could be the toughest opponent the Cougars face at TD Arena all year. I'm just glad everyone who stuck around got to see a signature victory.
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