BALTIMORE, Md. – Sophomore guard Canyon Barry (Colorado Springs, Colo.) scored a game-high 19 points, including six straight as his team took control during the closing minutes, to lead the College of Charleston to a 56-48 victory over Drexel in Friday's second opening-round game in the Colonial Athletic Association Men's Basketball Championship at Royal Farms Arena.

Tenth-seeded Charleston (9-23) advances to a 6 p.m. Saturday quarterfinal-round meeting with second-seeded UNCW, which had a first-round bye.  Seventh-seeded Drexel finished the season with an 11-19 record.

Barry put his team in front to stay 48-46 with two free throws with 2:20 remaining, scored on a driving layup with 1:43 left and hit on two more free throws with 33.3 seconds remaining for a 52-46 Cougar advantage.  Charleston, which didn't get its first lead until after the midpoint of the second half, then sealed the win by hitting on four consecutive free throws during the final 27.7 seconds.

After Drexel scored on layup by junior guard Tavon Allen to get to within 52-48 with 27.7 seconds to play, Charleston sophomore guard Joe Chealey hit twice from the foul line after being fouled on the ensuing in-bounds play.  Barry then connected on two more free throws with 15.7 seconds left for the game's final margin.

Barry hit on five of 11 shots from the field, including two three-point field goals and each of his seven free throws.  Chealey with 11 points was the only other Charleston player to reach double figures in scoring.

Charleston outscored Drexel 32-19 during the final half and rallied after trailing by nine points on three first-half occasions, the last at 26-17.  The Cougars got to within 29-24 by halftime and took their first lead at 42-41 on senior guard Anthony Stitt's three-pointer with 9:31 to play.  Drexel rallied to lead 46-44 on a free throw by sophomore forward Rodney Williams with 3:41 left but scored only on Allen's late field goal the rest of the way.

Drexel hit on only six of 19 second-half shots (31.6 percent) after shooting 47.4 percent (9-19) during the first half.  Charleston shot 37.0 percent during the second half (10-27) after shooting 33.3 percent (8-24) during the first period.  The Cougars had a 36-30 rebounding edge and had only nine turnovers to Drexel's 12.  Sophomore forward Terrance O'Donohue had a game-high 14 rebounds for Charleston.

Allen and senior guard Freddie Wilson combined for 21 of Drexel's 29 first-half points and for 32 overall.  Wilson finished with 17 points, including four three-pointers, and Allen scored 15.  Both played 40 minutes for the injury-depleted Dragons, who had only seven players available for the game.  Key among the missing Dragons was CAA scoring leader and first-team all-conference honoree Damion Lee (21.4 ppg), who didn't appear in the Dragons' final three games because of a hand fracture.

The game will be televised live nationally on the Comcast Family of Networks (check your local listings) and locally on MyTV Charleston (Channel 13).

POSTGAME NOTES

• The Cougars started Joe Chealey, Cameron Johnson, Canyon Barry, Donovan Gilmore and Adjehi Baru. It was the second-career CAA Tournament start for Baru, while the first for the four underclassmen.

• CofC now leads 4-3 in the all-time series with Drexel avenging a regular-season sweep by the Dragons.

• The Cougars claimed their first-ever CAA Tournament victory in only their second-year of membership in the league.

• Canyon Barry scored a game-high 19 points and has now registered double figures in 20 games this season. He has turned in back-to-back games in double digits.

• Joe Chealey continues on his career-best scoring streak (11 games) with 11 points against Drexel.

• Terrance O'Donohue came off the bench and brought down a career-high 14 rebounds including five on the offensive glass. He had 14 of the team's 36 boards against Drexel.

• The CofC defense held Drexel well under its scoring average (60.0 ppg) with 48 points (-12). The Cougars held the Dragons to 6-of-19 shooting from the field (31.6%) in the second half of play.

POSTGAME QUOTES

College of Charleston Head Coach Earl Grant

On the game ...

“I'm proud of our guys. We wanted to go into the game and be aggressive. Defensively and offensively, we were trying to attack. We really executed our game plan of getting into the paint. It was great to see it happen tonight and to get the W.”

On preparing for Drexel …

“I knew they (Drexel) played really well against William & Mary and knew they would be a tough team. I didn't think it would be much of a difference. Our guys did a good job of playing full court and making it hard for them all night.”

College of Charleston Sophomore Guard Canyon Barry

On the game …

“Coach (Earl) Grant stressed in all of our practices this week how important all of our drives would be and that foul trouble would hurt them. Our whole team focused on finishing in the paint (24 points) and that was a good strategy for us tonight.”