December 29, 2005
BOX SCORE
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Longwood University dropped a 77-53 men’s basketball decision to home standing College of Charleston Thursday night in the first-round of the Cougar’s Holiday Classic tournament played at the John Kresse Arena in Charleston, South Carolina. The Lancers (2-11) had no players reach double-figure scoring, while the Cougars (6-4) were led by Dontaye Draper and Josh Jackson with 15 points each. Longwood will play Long Island University (3-5), a 63-59 loser to Rider in the earlier first-round contest, in the consolation game of the College of Charleston Classic on Friday, Dec. 30, at 5:30 p.m..
In a game that started slowly for each team, Longwood led 11-9 at 12:43 of the first half on a tip-in from sophomore Dana Smith/Woodbridge (C.D. Hylton). The College of Charleston, however, took advantage of a 14-2 run to lead 23-13 with 8:19 left until the break. Draper’s seven points fueled the Cougar run, while Jackson added four points. The Lancers, though, battled back to within 23-17 (6:34) on consecutive baskets inside from senior Chad Kosmo/Northport, Maine (St. Petersburg JC) and freshman Kirk Williams/White Plains, N.Y. (Woodlands). It was still a six-point game, 33-27, at 2:31 on a three-point field goal from junior Maurice Sumter/Alexandria (T.C. Williams) but the hosts led 39-29 at the intermission as Draper made a late jumper to finish the opening period with 13 points.
CoC took control of the game during the opening minutes of the second half, outscoring Longwood 11-3 over the first 2:38 to lead 50-32 at 17:22 as Jackson tallied a pair of baskets. The Lancers closed to within 54-38 at 13:52 on a layup from junior Clayton Morgan/Brooklyn, N.Y. (Fashion Institute) but that was as close as it would get. The Cougars increased the margin to as many as 28 points (75-47, 3:54) before LU scored six of the final eight points for the final margin.
Kosmo led Longwood with eight points and a game-high 10 rebounds while playing only 14 minutes. He was making his first start since Nov. 26 when he suffered an ankle injury against UVA-Wise, and seeing his first significant action as well after missing seven of the last eight games. Williams also finished with eight points off the bench for the Lancers before fouling out with 5:22 remaining. Sumter contributed seven points, four rebounds, and three assists. LU shot just 30% (23-77) from the field, including 19% (4-21) on three-pointers, and only 25% (3-12) at the free throw line.
Draper and Jackson each scored 15 points to lead the College of Charleston, with Jackson adding 10 rebounds for a double-double. Jermaine Johnson also had a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Drew Hall added 10 points and Philip McCandies contributed 10 rebounds for the Cougars. CoC shot 42% (30-71) from the field, including 21% (4-19) on three-pointers, and 59% (13-22) at the line.
The College of Charleston improved to 22-1 in its own tournament, and is now 314-34 overall at home in John Kresse Arena. The Cougars, 1983 NAIA National Champions, have advanced to four NCAA Tournaments and have also made three NIT Tournament appearances between 1994-2003.
