Charleston edges Monmouth 79-78 in OT in Coastal Athletic Association Tournament quarterfinal
WASHINGTON — — Ante Brzovic had 22 points and Derrin Boyd scored four of his 16 in overtime to lead Charleston to a 79-78 victory over Monmouth on Sunday night in a Coastal Athletic Association Tournament quarterfinal.
The third-seeded Cougars (24-8) will play No. 2 seed UNC Wilmington in a Monday semifinal. Top-seed Towson squares off against No. 12 seed Delaware in the other semifinal.
AJ Smith had 12 points in the first half to lead Charleston to a 34-33 advantage at the intermission. Brzovic scored 18 in the second half and his layup with 17 seconds left sent the game to OT tied at 72. Boyd made two foul shots with 13 seconds left in the extra period to put the Cougars up by three. Jaret Valencia had a layup in the final second for Monmouth.
Brzovic also snagged eight rebounds for the Cougars. Smith had 17 points.
The sixth-seeded Hawks (13-20) were led by Abdi Bashir Jr. with 24 points and four assists. Jack Collins added 15 points and six rebounds. Cornelius Robinson Jr. totaled nine points, nine rebounds and four assists.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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Game Information
2024-25 Coastal Athletic Association Standings
Men’s College Basketball News
| 1 | 2 | OT | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MONM | 33 | 39 | 6 | 78 |
| COFC | 34 | 38 | 7 | 79 |
| Team | CONF | GB | OVR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Towson | 16-2 | – | 22-10 |
| UNC Wilmington | 14-4 | 2 | 25-7 |
| Charleston | 13-5 | 3 | 24-8 |
| William & Mary | 11-7 | 5 | 17-15 |
| Campbell | 10-8 | 6 | 15-17 |
| Monmouth | 10-8 | 6 | 13-20 |
| Drexel | 9-9 | 7 | 18-15 |
| Northeastern | 9-9 | 7 | 17-15 |
| Elon | 8-10 | 8 | 17-15 |
| Hampton | 8-10 | 8 | 17-16 |
| Hofstra | 6-12 | 10 | 15-18 |
| Delaware | 5-13 | 11 | 15-19 |
| Stony Brook | 4-14 | 12 | 8-24 |
| North Carolina A&T | 3-15 | 13 | 7-25 |
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Heartbreaker: Monmouth falls to Charleston, 79-78, in OT in CAA Tournament quarterfinals
Monmouth’s quest to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2006 ended the same way it ended last March, falling to Charleston in the quarterfinals at the CAA Tournament.
This time, however, it was an absolute heartbreaker at the CareFirst Arena in Washington, D.C. Sunday, as Monmouth was unable to hold a lead in the final minute of regulation before missing a chance to tie the game in the final seconds of overtime, falling 79-78 to the two-time defending champions.
“When you’re in a new league, to be the champion you have to beat the champion,” Monmouth head coach King Rice said. “And we beat them in the regular season, and everyone in our locker room feels like we outplayed them, but they got the win so you have to give them credit.”
Monmouth (13-20), seeded sixth, was once again denied a spot in the semifinals by the Cougars, seeded third, despite a 24-point performance by CAA leading scorer Abdi Bashir Jr., with the sophomore guard’s six 3-pointers giving him a CAA record 127 for the season, which also tops the nation.
His 3-pointer from the left wing with 42.2 seconds left in regulation gave Monmouth a 72-70 lead. But after appearing to get a stop at the defensive end, Monmouth guard Madison Durr chased a loose ball down along the baseline only to have it knocked free. The loose ball went right to Ante Brzovic inside for an easy score, tying the game with 20 seconds left.
After a timeout, Jack Collins, who finished with 15 points and went over 1,000 points for his career, missed a long, open 3-pointer in the final seconds, with the game going to overtime.
In the extra session, Monmouth got within 77-76 on Durr’s drive with 55 seconds left. But after Jaret Valencia’s block stopped a Brzovic shot at one end, Derrin Boyd poked the ball away from Bashir at the other, forcing a turnover that Charleston took advantage of, getting two Boyd free throws to go up 79-76 with 13.5 seconds left.
After both teams called timeouts, Monmouth inbounded the ball needing a 3-pointer. But instead the ball ended up in Valencia’s hands in the paint, scoring inside in the final second and looking for a foul call that never came, as the Hawks fall a point short.
“We were trying to get Jack a shot, they did a good job,” Rice said., “There wasn’t a lot of time, they defended it well, And Jaret got it, we tried to tell him to throw it out – a lot of contact.”
Charleston shot 32 free throws to just 12 for Monmouth, a fact that did not go unnoticed. And while Rice referenced the play involving Durr at the end of regulation, he declined to criticize the officials after getting suspended for the first CAA game this season for post-game comments at last year’s CAA Tournament.
“We had the rebound, they tipped it out right to their guy,” Rice said. “Madison has been one of the best free throw shooters this year normally he secures that ball, you get the foul, he hits two and the game’s over. But it didn’t go that way so we’re just going to give credit.
“Everybody is thinking I am going to say something bad this year. They know what it was. They can look at the final stats and see all the stuff so I’ m not going to comment. But we feel like our kids fought hard enough to get it done and Charleston got the win.”
Charleston got 22 points from Brzovic, advancing to face No. 2 seed UNC Wilmington in Monday’s 8:30 p.m. semifinal. Upstart 12th seed Delaware looks to make it four straight wins at tournament against No. 1 Towson in the first semifinal at 6 p.m.
Collins, a junior guard, finished with 15 points for Monmouth, going over the 1,000 point mark for his career when he drained the second of two late 3-pointers to pull Monmouth within 32-31, with Charleston taking a 34-33 lead into halftime. Collins had 18 points against Hofstra Saturday and had 30 in a CAA Tournament game two years ago.
“I thought we battled pretty hard. We played defense well,” Collins said. “I’m just so proud of this group. Every guy on the bench, top to bottom performed this season and had some great moments.”
The second half turned into a wild back-and-forth battle, with Charleston coming out with a 7-0 run in the first 90 seconds, with a CJ Fulton 3-pointer giving the Cougars a 41-33 advantage. But with the shot clock winding down, Collins nailed a long 3-pointers with 12:38 left to give Monmouth a 51-48, capping a 14-4 run.
Bashir made history later in the half when, after making a steal, he raced downcourt and pulled up for a triple, burying it to give Monmouth a 60-57 advantage with 8:33 to play and breaking the CAA record with his 126th 3-pointer of the season.
A pair of free throws by Brzovic and a driving layup by Boyd put the Cougars back on top, extending to a 63-60 lead on a Boyd score inside with 6:18 to play. Collins then hit a free throw, before making a steal and scoring on a driving layup to tie the game at 63-63 with 4:50 to play. The Hawks then grabbed the lead when Bashir dumped a pass inside on the fast break that Valencia dunked to put them back on top with 4:05 to play.
With 2:37 to play, with the shot clock winding down it was Brzovic spinning inside and getting fouled, with Valencia called for goaltending on the play. Brzovic missed the free throw, leaving the game tied at 65-65.
Robinson scored inside to put Monmouth up a basket, with Brzovic answering at the other end to tie it again with 1:55 remaining.
This is a breaking news story so check back shortly for more on Monmouth’s loss to Charleston.
