Dalton Bolon scored 22 points as No. 23 College of Charleston looked the part of a newly ranked team by trouncing North Carolina A&T 92-79 on Wednesday at Greensboro, N.C.
The Cougars, playing for the first time with a national ranking in two decades, won their 14th game in a row and led by 30 points at one juncture.
Ante Brzovic and Pat Robinson III each scored 12 points and Ben Burnham and Raekwon Horton each had 11. Ryan Larson scored all eight of his points in the first half for College of Charleston (15-1, 3-0 Colonial Athletic Association), which had the big point total despite shooting just 8-for-28 on 3-point attempts.
Kam Woods scored 30 points for N.C. A&T (6-10, 1-2), which was playing in its first CAA home game. The Aggies are newcomers to the league this season and they were fresh off a two-point win at Hofstra.
Woods shot 12-for-20 with six 3-pointers. Duncan Powell, who was the most-recent CAA Rookie of the Week, added 20 points off the bench, hitting three 3-pointers. Marcus Watson had 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Aggies, who shot 43.2 percent from the field.
Charleston made it through the game with 10 turnovers. N.C. A&T had 13.
Charleston led 51-31 at halftime, buoyed by 52.5 percent shooting from the field. N.C. A&T shot 38.2 percent in the first half, with Woods going 6-for-10 and the rest of the team 7-for-24.
The Cougars gradually extended the margin in the opening minutes of the second half. Their lead grew to 75-45 on Horton’s 3-pointer at the 11:10 mark.
Powell made a couple of treys to help the Aggies at least stem Charleston’s momentum.
N.C. A&T was 5-for-6 from the free-throw line, with its starters accounting for only two of the foul shots. The Aggies grabbed just nine offensive rebounds despite the dismal shooting.
–Field Level Media