With Four In Double Figures Burnham Leads Cougars With Team Best 19 Pts.

Jeff Walker, Sports Writer

The College of Charleston men's basketball team closed out their non-conference schedule Friday night as they downed NAIA opponent Montreat 96-59 at TD Arena. With the victory the Cougars pick up their fifth win in a row and remain unbeaten at home this season.

Ben 'Benny Buckets' Burnham lead four players in double figures for CofC as the junior big man finished with a team best 19 points, going 7 of 9 overall with three from long range. Bryce Butler went 6 of 8 for 15 points while grabbing six of Charleston's 53 rebounds.

James Scott continues his overall offensive dominance. The 6'11' freshman has now made 23 consecutive shots over the past several contests. Scott went 4 of 4 against the Cavaliers, as he and Khalil London (5 of 7) chipped in 11 apiece for the Charleston. With all 16 Cougars participating in the contest, 14 players scored as CofC got a 57 points from the bench.

The final stats were decidedly in favor of the home team as Charleston grabbed 19 more rebounds than the visitors, forced 14 turnovers, and outscored Montreat 44 to 16 in the paint. With the win CofC improve to 9-4 overall.

Montreat kept within striking distance for the first 10 minutes of the contest until a 3-pointer by London gave Charleston a double digit (24-12) lead midway thru the opening period. Reyne Smith added from long range as the Cougars went on a 24-0 run capped off by another long range missile by Benny Buckets to enjoy a 31 point margin with under five minutes remaining in the half. Charleston would take a 51-21 advantage into the locker room.

Obviously mismatched Montreat did provide a little spark at the onset of the second period. Ten unanswered by the cut the Charleston's lead to 20 before the Cougars found their mojo again, up by 34 points when Scott made two from the line with 12:03 left to play.

Charleston was pretty much coasting from the moment on, extending the lead to 41 when Frankie Policelli added a couple from the charity stripe. A dunk by London just under the four minute mark gave CofC their biggest lead (93-49) as Coach Pat Kelsey cleared the bench with Montreat wrapping up the game on a 10-3 run.

The lone bright spot for the Cavaliers was Jack Keller who finished with a game best 21 points. He went 8 of 13 from the field, connecting on 4 of 6 from beyond the arc. The small Christian college out of North Carolina fall to 5-7 overall.

The Cougars, now 9-4, begin CAA play on the road at Hofstra on January 4. Action is set for 7:00 p.m. in Hempstead. CofC follow that up at Stony Brook on Saturday January 6th. Charleston return home January 11th to host Elon.