CofC Win Battle of the Boards, Burnham & Brzovic Finish With Game Best 20 Apiece

Jeff Walker, Sports Writer

After securing two road wins in conference and keeping a seven game win streak alive, the College of Charleston men's basketball team returned home Thursday night to welcome CAA rival Elon to TD Arena. Coming off a 77-59 win over North Carolina A&T, the Phoenix at 8-7 overall were hoping up to pick up their second win in league play.

However, at 11-4 with a perfect 6-0 record in the CAA, the Cougars and the sixth man (the crowd) make it hard for visitors to leave victorious. The Phoenix discovered the same fate, as they fell to CofC 80-62 before a crowd of 4600 plus at TD Arena.

It was a night for the big men as Ben 'Benny Buckets' Burnham and Ante Brzovic lead the Cougar attack with a game best 20 points apiece, with Benny adding 2 of 4 from beyond the arc, and Ante grabbing eight boards. Brzovic's 20 was a season high for him. Kobe Rodgers came in off the bench to chip in 14 points for CofC, who improve to 12-4 on the season and keep an eight game winning streak alive.

While Burnham and Brzovic are no stranger to scoring, it's rare the duo have strong nights together. Burnham says they make an awesome tandem. "It's a lot of fun. I think him and me on the court at the same time is kind of a good little duo. He's a good passer as well, so it's fun to play with him."

A slam jam by Burnham rocked the scoreboard and got the crowd pumped. Several rim-runners ensued before Brzovic added a couple from the foul line. More failed attempts followed before Max MacKinnon hit from long range to give Elon an 8-6 advantage after four minutes of play.

A triple by Burnham put CofC up 20-19 midway through the period. When Khalil London added a missile the Cougs enjoyed a four point margin. A few minutes later another 3-pointer by Kobe Rodgers gave Charleston a 30-25 lead, with Elon answering from downtown.

Up by seven with under a minute Elon's Isaac Harrell added another triple, only to have Brzovic close out the half with an old fashioned 3-point play to send the home team into the locker room up 41-34 at the break.

The Cougs came out with a little more oomph in the second half, going up by 12 (46-34) inside three minutes of action. However a 10-2 run by the Phoenix made it a one possession contest. But when Burnham and Brzovic scored back to back Charleston soon found themselves up again by double digits.

After another offensive lull by both teams, CJ Fulton drained two consecutive 3-pointers for Charleston to put the home team up 60-46 with just over nine minutes remaining. Elon would cut the margin to eight a couple minutes later before Charleston went into cruise control pushing the lead to 19 on a layup by Bryce Butler with 2:24 left to play, as both teams cleared the benches.

Elon had four players finish in double figures with MacKinnon leading the way with 17 points. Sam Sherry went 5 for 8 for 13 points, with Rob Higgins and Zac Ervin finishing with 11 apiece. With the loss the Phoenix fall to 8-8 on the season and 1-2 in the CAA.

Although neither team shot particularly well the Cougars won the battle that helped secure victory, out-rebounding the Phoenix 52-37, with 19 offensive boards resulting in 17 second chance points. Freshman James Scott grabbed a career-high 8 rebounds in just 15 minutes of play. CofC made 8 of 26 from beyond the arc with Elon cashing in on just 6 of 28 from long range.

Referring to how Elon played last season, CofC Head Coach Pat Kelsey expected the Phoenix would bring their A-game to Charleston. "That was a hard fought game. Very physical. Elon way more than last year, they were in the high 300's in offensive rebounding, and they've made a real commitment to the backboard."

Coach added his players rose to the challenge. "Throughout the entire game our tenacity on the offensive glass was as good as it's been all season long. We were flying in there together, like a bunch of kangaroos, attacking the glass. We had eight players with an offensive rebound. That's such a hustle hard working statistic I love."

The Cougars, now 12-4 and winners of eight straight, return to action Saturday hosting Monmouth at 4:30 at TD Arena.