Freshmen Come Up Big for Third Win

Final Score: College of Charleston 57, Western Carolina 56

Top Performers: 
Jarrell Brantley 17 pts (5-11 FG, 7-11 FT), 7 rebs (4 off)
Torrion Brummitt 18 pts (5-11 FG, 7-10, FT), 5 rebs (0 off)

Following two consecutive narrow losses, and preceding the biggest home game of the year on Monday against Ben Simmons and LSU, the Cougars needed a victory. Early on in this game, when it became clear that the CofC jumpers were not falling, it looked like a moral victory might be the best this team could hope for yesterday.

Yet as the ebb and flow of a young team stays unpredictable, the Cougars were able to pull out just enough to take this game from the Catamounts. Best of all, it was two freshmen - Jarrell Brantley and Marquise Pointer - who were most responsible for the win.

This was a sloppy game throughout. The Cougars' best shooters were in what I assume was a Tryptophan-induced malaise - Canyon Barry was 6 for 20 from the floor, Cam Johnson had just four points and Evan Bailey was an uncharacteristic 1 of 7 from downtown and 0-2 from the line. The Catamounts shot the ball reasonably well, but the CofC defense to its credit forced 24 turnovers.

The only way to win an ugly game when the shots aren't falling is to lock in on defense, and produce easy shots either at the rim or from the free throw line. The Cougars rescued themselves from a second half scoring drought by embracing these principles. Much unlike the Coastal Carolina game, the Cougars got into the lane (holding a 24-9 advantage in points in the paint) and were able to turn defense into offense (21-11 advantage in points off turnovers).

With two minutes to play, Marquise Pointer hit back-to-back threes to put the Cougars ahead and Jarrell Brantley capped off the best offensive performance of his college career thus far by cleaning up a Canyon Barry miss for two points and a trip to the line. The CofC freshmen duo had the final nine points for the team.

This is the type of game the Cougars need to learn to win and the fact that it was the young guys who made the difference makes it that much sweeter. There will be games where the Cougars cannot survive woeful shooting, but once they put it all together this team will be stout on both ends of the floor. Earl Grant apologized to fans for the aesthetically displeasing slugfest, but there are no style points in college basketball. A win is a win, and the Cougars now have three of them.

More notes below:

• Perhaps because of schedule, or maybe because of CofC's lack of production inside last game, Nick Harris registered a season high 11 minutes against WCU. The redshirt freshmen was quiet offensively, and picked up four fouls, but he altered some shots, got to the line and rebounded well. The coaching staff will continue to bring him along slowly as he recovers from injury, and he'll be an important piece come league play.
• Love that Grant is not tied to a rotation just yet. After O'Donohue's productive game against Coastal, Grant stuck with what was working this time around and elected to go with Bourne down the stretch. He played exceptional one-on-one defense as the clock expired to secure the win
• Although they were slightly outrebounded (40-38), the Cougars had a commanding advantage in second chance points: 24-9
• Some very inconsistent refereeing in this game. Another good learning experience for the Cougars - have to know how to win when you can't buy a bucket or a call
• WCU led by as much as 9 points in the second half. That's been a deficit - either last week or the last three years - often too big for CofC to come back from, but it felt damn good when they did
• The Catamounts led for 38 of the game's 40 minutes