Smith Leads Cougars Once Again With 21 Pts. Charleston Preparing For Upcoming CAA Tournament in DC

Jeff Walker, Sports Writer

Less than 48 hour after downing Campbell on Thursday night and securing the outright CAA regular season title, the College of Charleston men's basketball team close at the regular season by sending visiting Hofstra University home with an 87-76 loss. With the victory CofC keep a nine game winning streak intact, as they prepare for next weekend's CAA Tournament.

Coming off a record setting night where he made 10 3-pointers, Reyne Smith once again lead the Cougar attack finishing with a team best 21 points including 6 of 11 from beyond the arc. Big man Ante Brzovic added two from long range going 7 of 13 overall for 18 points. Kobe Rodgers and Frankie Policelli who were celebrated prior to the game on Senior Day, chipped in 11 apiece.

CofC Head Coach Pat Kelsey admits Smith's offensiveness is due to his regimen. "Reyne is just so consistent. When I say consistent, I don't mean his shots fall all the time. He's just steady Eddie. He doesn't change. He doesn't get high with the highs, or low with the lows. He's so stinking process oriented. He's a robot. His routine and his mental stuff."

Having secured the conference regular season title, and becoming the top seed it might have been easy to have a let down in the final CAA contest. But Coach Pat Kelsey says he and his players don't have that mindset. The Cougars played like they were playing for their lives. "Obviously that's a concern when you're a coach. When the game ends the other day, and we're celebrating. We're the toast of the town. Won the championship."

He adds, "And then you get one of those weird 48 hour turn arounds. You have a concern a little bit. But that concern was very minute because that's not the make up of our team."

While Hofstra lit up the scoreboard first with a three, Smith answered from long range and the contest was underway. That lead to nine unanswered by CofC including four from Kobe Rodgers. In just over three minutes of action Ben Burnham nailed a triple from the corner to make it 15-6 in favor of Charleston.

A short dry spell by Charleston allowed Hofstra to make it a one possession game, before another offensive push by the Cougars including a 3-pointer by Burnham made it 28-20. They would grab their first double digit lead (38-28) with 3:04 remaining in the half, settling for a decent 45-36 advantage at the break.

The beginning of the second period looked just as promising. When Smith hit back to back threes the Cougars extended their lead to 15 (54-39) with 17:31 still to play. By the time Smith added his fifth 3-pointer the home team forged ahead 60-42. Midway thru the period a layup by Brzovic had the home team up 70-56.

However Hofstra had no quit in them, scoring seven unanswered to cut the margin in half. Up 82-71 in the final four minute battle, the Cougars remained aggressive. Smith's final shot from beyond the arc with under a minute to play made it 87-72, and the writing was on the wall. Coach Kelsey cleared the bench to thunderous applause from the crowd.

The Pride had four in double figures with Tyler Thomas and Darlinstone Dubar two of the deadliest offensive threats finishing with 27 and 19 respectively. Jaquan Carlos and Jacco Fritz chipped in 13 and 12 apiece. With the loss Hofstra fall to 19-12 overall and end the CAA season 12-6.

Coach Kelsey says his players are ready for the tournament. "At the center of what we're about, and one of the major tenets of our program is excellence in the next thing. Everyone's talking about the conference tournament. You have to win three games in three days. The only thing that's important now, is the first repetition and the first drill when we get back to practice on Tuesday."

Does the team have anything to work on prior to heading to DC. "Everything. We'll work on everything. We have a relatively long layoff, based on the rest of the season." The team have a week to prepare. "We'll go back to meat and potatoes. We'll go back to the fundamentals. Offense and defense. You always have things you can work on." He adds, "No team in the country is a finished product."

Charleston, now 24-7, has secured the No. 1 seed in the upcoming CAA Championship and will play at 12:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 10 at the Entertainment & Sport Arena. The Cougars will play the winner between Monmouth and Campbell.