Dragons Fall in Final Seconds at the College of Charleston, 61-60

Saturday, January 9

Charleston, S.C.

1 p.m.

Drexel University

5-3,0-1CAA

College of Charleston

4-6,2-1CAA

Drexel

Col. of Charleston

Dragons Fall in Final Seconds at the College of Charleston, 61-60

1/9/2021 3:16:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Charleston's Zep Jasper made three free throws with one second to play as the Cougars rallied to defeat Drexel, 61-60. James Butler scored 20 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, but it was not enough as the Dragons lost in heart-breaking fashion in their conference opener.

The Dragons (5-3) appeared to have the game in their grasp in the closing minutes. Matey Juric hit a three-pointer with 3:01 to play to give Drexel the lead. After a stalemate over the next two minutes, T. J. Bickerstaff scored on a lay-up with 1:13 remaining to put Drexel ahead, 60-56. Thirty seconds later the Cougars pulled within two on a Cameron Copeland jumper. Drexel had the ball, missed a shot but came up with the offensive rebound. However, a costly turnover gave Charleston the ball and the last possession. Juric was called for a foul with just a second to play, and Jasper made all three of his free throws, to give the Cougars the unlikely victory. Charleston improved to 4-6 on the season and is now 2-1 in Colonial Athletic Association play.

The second half was back as the teams were even on five occasions. The Cougars scored the first seven points of the half to take the lead, but midway through the second half, Drexel answered with six points in a row to even it up. The Charleston defense held Drexel without a point for more than four minutes as the Cougars scored another seven unanswered to take a 54-52 lead with just under five minutes to play. Later it was Drexel's turn to come up big on the defensive end. The Dragons held the Cougars to just one field goal over the last 3:18 of the game before Jasper's heroics gave Charleston the win.

The Dragons raced out to a double-digit lead just six minutes into the game. Butler had a huge first half and scored eight points during a 13-2 run to start the game. He finished the half with 15 points and had nine rebounds. Charleston chipped away and cut Drexel's lead to one at 25-24 with 4:26 to play in the half. However, the Dragons answered by scoring 11 of the next 12 points. Zach Walton capped the run with a three-pointer with just under two minutes to play to extend the lead to 10. Charleston was able to score the last five points of the half to trail by five at intermission.

Butler picked up his second double-double in the last three games and the 28^th of his career on Saturday. He was 7-for-11 from the floor and moved into 12^th place on Drexel's career rebounding list with 731. Zach Walton added 13 points and six rebounds, while T.J. Bickerstaff made five of his six field goal attempts and finished with 12 points and seven caroms.

Payton Willis led Charleston with 22 points. Copeland (11) and Jasper (10) were also in double figures for the Cougars, who shot 46 percent from the floor. They were 8-for-16 from long range.

Drexel and the College of Charleston will meet once again on Sunday afternoon at TD Arena. Tip-off will be at 1 p.m. as the Dragons look to snap their five-game losing streak to the Cougars.