Cohen (29) tops 20 points for sixth time this year to lead Davidson

Davidson College Sports Information
Jake Cohen matched his career high with 29 points and added a career-high 14 rebounds to lead Davidson to an 87-69 Southern Conference men’s basketball victory over College of Charleston Thursday night in Belk Arena.

The win kept Davidson undefeated in the Southern Conference, at 7-0. Overall the Cats are now 13-4. Charleston is now  12-6 0verall, 4-3 in the SoCon.

Cohen collected 24 points and eight rebounds in the first half for the Wildcats. The junior was 9-for-17 from the floor for the game and made all nine free-throw attempts.

Nik Cochran scored 16 points for Davidson, all in the second half, and De’Mon Brooks netted 15. Tyler Kalinoski chipped in nine points and three assists, and the Wildcats got a big lift off the bench from Frank Ben-Eze, who posted six points, five rebounds and five blocked shots.

Andrew Lawrence tallied 18 points, five rebounds and five assists for College of Charleston, while Antwaine Wigginsposted 17 points and nine rebounds. Nori Johnson scored 15.

Davidson held a 17-point advantage early in the second half, but the Cougars kept chipping away and an 11-4 run, capped by a pair of Lawrence free throws, made the score 61-55 with 9:32 remaining.

Hanging on to a seven-point lead with 7:30 to go, Cochran scored five straight points, and Cohen

added a triple as the Wildcats pushed the margin back to 15 with 4:50 left. The Cougars got the lead down to 12 points three times and 11 points once but could not get into single digits.

Cohen scored eight points in a 14-3 Davidson run that opened a 15-point lead with 7:37 remaining in the first half. But Wiggins answered with two four-point plays for the Cougars, getting fouled while making a pair of 3-pointers, to help trim the margin to 37-31 with 3:42 left.

The Wildcats ended the period with a 9-3 spurt as Cohen struck for six points, and Davidson led 46-34 at the break. Davidson outscored CofC 26-6 in the paint in the half.

The ‘Cats held the Cougars to 39 percent from the field for the game, including 7-of-26 from 3-point range and controlled the glass48-34. CofC also struggled from the charity stripe, shooting 14-of-24.

CITADEL HERE SATURDAY

The Wildcats are back in action Saturday as they host The Citadel at 7 p.m. in Belk Arena.

Game Notes: Cohen scored 29 against Georgia Southern Jan. 7… He has scored 20-plus points six times this season, including the last four contests… Davidson has won 15 of its last 16 SoCon regular-season games, including 10 straight, dating back to last season… The ‘Cats have won six in a row overall… Davidson is 8-1 in Belk Arena this season and has won 14 of its last 15.

DOWNLOAD the Davidson vs. Charleston box score, PDF