College of Charleston Improves to 29-3 With Wire-to-Wire CAA Quarterfinal Victory

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Second-seeded Charleston sprinted out to a 22-2 lead and never looked back, beating No. 10 Stony Brook, 74-52, in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Jersey Mike’s CAA Men’s Basketball Championship on Sunday night at the Entertainment & Sports Arena.

The Cougars (29-3), who won their eighth consecutive game and tied Houston for the most overall victories in the nation, advance to face either Towson or Delaware in the semifinals at 8:30 p.m. on Monday. Stony Brook dropped to 11-22 after the setback.

Sophomore forward Ante Brzovic led a balanced Charleston scoring effort with 15 points and seven rebounds and guard Dalton Bolon registered 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Guards Ryan Larson (11 points) and Reyne Smith (10 points) also reached double figures.

Center Keenan Fitzmorris tallied a game-high 18 points for Stony Brook and guard Toby Onyekonwu had 10 points, a team-best eight rebounds and four assists.

Charleston hit six of its first seven shots from the floor, including three treys, to grab a 15-2 lead in the first five minutes. A three-pointer by Raekwon Horton pushed the advantage to 22-2 with 13:22 to go in the period. Behind 11 first-half points from Fitzmorris, Stony Brook was able to slow the Cougars’ momentum and closed to within 42-26 at halftime.

The two teams played evenly through much of the second half. The Seawolves pulled within 13 (55-42) on a Tyler Stephenson-Moore bucket with 10:56 remaining. However, the Cougars responded with 12-3 surge capped by a Ryan Larson layup to build a comfortable 67-45 advantage with 7:06 to play.

Charleston shot just 38.2% from the floor but connected on 10 three-pointers. The Cougars also had a 47-32 rebounding advantage, including 15-3 on the offensive glass. Stony Brook shot 39.3% overall but made only 2-of-14 from beyond the arc.

The Cougars are into the Semifinals for the fifth time in the last seven seasons; Charleston has outscored opponents by 23.8 points per game during its current eight-game winning streak, which follows a 20-game run earlier in the year.