Eastern Kentucky’s pursuit of CBI crown runs out of gas in title game loss to Charlotte
Eastern Kentucky’s scintillating run to a postseason championship came up one basket short on Wednesday night.
After playing three overtime games in three days in the College Basketball Invitational, the Colonels rallied from 20 points down with 11 minutes to play against Charlotte and trailed by three with 18 seconds left. Two three-point attempts that would have forced yet another extra period instead came up empty and the 49ers defeated the Colonels 71-68 at Daytona Beach, Fla.
EKU, the No. 8 seed in the 16-team CBI, defeated No. 9 seed Cleveland State in overtime on Sunday, No. 1 Indiana State in overtime on Monday and No. 4 Southern Utah in double overtime on Tuesday to advance to the finals.
While the Colonels were enduring three high-stress matchups that generated an extra 20 minutes of playing time, No 3 seed Charlotte zoomed past No. 14 Western Carolina by nine points, No. 11 Milwaukee by 11 and No. 10 Radford by seven.
Those outcomes might have contributed to a fresher 49ers team bolting to an 18-5 lead in Wednesday’s first seven minutes, an edge that grew as large as 35-14 before Charlotte settled for a 42-24 halftime lead.
The Colonels were outrebounded 15-9 in the opening half and committed six turnovers to Charlotte’s three. Most importantly, the 49ers made 18 of their 25 field goal attempts (72 percent) compared to Eastern’s 9-of-25 (36 percent).
EKU still trailed 58-38 when Turner Buttry’s three-pointer with 10:47 left in the game launched the Colonels comeback.
A three-point play by Dardan Kapiti, another three-pointer by Buttry, a putback by Isaiah Cozart and a dunk by Cozart trimmed the deficit to 58-51 by the 7:23 mark, and it was game-on from there.
Cooper Robb’s three-pointer with 51 seconds left brought EKU within 69-68 in a game it never led.
A layup by Charlotte’s Isaiah Folkes with 18 seconds to go kept it a one-possession game at 71-68.
Charlotte fouled to disrupt EKU’s final possession. After the reset, Brice Williams blocked Cooper Robb’s three-point try. Cozart grabbed the rebound and got the ball to Tayshawn Comer who missed a long three-pointer at the buzzer.
Playing his final game for EKU, Robb finished with 17 points to lead the Colonels (23-14), making five of 11 from behind the arc. Michael Moreno made four threes and finished with 14 points and seven rebounds. Cozart, who registered double-doubles in each of EKU’s first three CBI games, ended up with 10 points and four rebounds.
Devontae Blanton, who averaged 26 points per game in EKU’s first three CBI contests, started and was held scoreless in 15 minutes of action Wednesday night. EKU later announced that Blanton was limited in the championship game due to an injury.
Aly Khalifa scored 20 points for Charlotte (22-14).
Cozart and Blanton were named to the five-player CBI all-tournament team.
Cozart’s free throws in second overtime lift Eastern Kentucky into CBI title game
Eastern Kentucky advances to semifinals of College Basketball Invitational
