Charleston beats Towson 67-59 behind Chealey's 29 points

Mar 6, 2017, 02:38 pm

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Joe Chealey scored 29 points, Cameron Johnson scored all of his seven in the second half, including a pivotal 3-pointer with 1:12 to play, and Charleston beat Towson 67-59 in Sunday's Colonial Athletic Association Tournament semifinal.

The No. 2 seeded Cougars advance to Monday night's championship game against top-seeded UNC-Wilmington (28-5), which beat William & Mary 105-94 on Sunday.

Trailing 26-21 at halftime, the Cougars closed to 43-41 on Chealey's free throw with 7:38 to play. Chealey hit three straight 3s and Charleston tied it at 50 on Arnaud William Adala Moto's free throw, then led 55-50 after Johnson and Jarrell Brantley each made layups.

Towson closed to 55-54 on Adala Moto's layup, but Johnson hit his big 3 and followed it with a layup for a 63-54 Charleston lead with 50 seconds left. Towson closed to 66-59 on Eddie Keith II's 3-pointer, but got no closer.

Grant Riller scored 12, Brantley added 10, and the Cougars held the Tigers to 35 percent shooting from the floor.

Adala Moto led Towson (20-13) with 14 points.