Charlotte wins CBI title, holds off Eastern Kentucky 71-68

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Aly Khalifa scored14 of his 20 points in the first half, Montre’ Gipson made three3-pointer in the second half, and No. 3 seed Charlotte held off No.8 seed Eastern Kentucky 71-68 on Wednesday night in thechampionship game of the College Basketball Invitational.

Charlotte (22-14) finished the season with its most wins sincethe 2000-01 campaign, when it took down Tennessee in the openinground of the NCAA Tournament. The 49ers were appearing in thepostseason for the first time since earning an at-large bid to the2013 NIT.

Charlotte made eight of its first nine shots and led 18-5 asEastern Kentucky only made two field goals in the opening eightminutes. Khalifa made all six of his shots in the first half tohelp the 49ers build a 42-24 lead at halftime after shooting 72%(18 of 25) from the field. EKU had five scoring droughts of atleast 90 seconds in the first half.

It was the fourth time in the tournament the Colonels trailed athalftime — before rattling off three straight overtime wins toreach the title game.

Cooper Robb, who played at Charlotte from 2018-20, made two3-pointers during EKU’s 12-5 run to open the second half. ButCharlotte kept its double-digit lead until the 8:44 mark when EKUscored 13 unanswered points.

Robb made a steal and raced the other way for a long 3-pointerto get EKU within 69-68 with 47.4 seconds left. Isaiah Folkesanswered with a layup, off a nice pass by Gipson, for a three-pointlead with 16 seconds left. After a timeout, Robb had a 3-pointattempt blocked by Brice Williams and Tayshawn Comer had anotherattempt for EKU but it came up short.

Williams, averaging a team-high 14 points per game, finishedwith six points, five rebounds and two blocks for Charlotte. Gipsonadded 13 points, Lu’Cye Patterson had 11 and Folkes scored 10.

Robb made five 3-pointers and scored 17 points for EasternKentucky (23-14), which had the third-most wins in program history.Michael Moreno added 14 points and Devontae Blanton, averaging ateam-high 17.4 points, was scoreless in the first half and did notplay after halftime.

Isaiah Cozart was held to 10 points and four rebounds aftersecuring a double-double in Eastern Kentucky’s opening threetournament games. Cozart set a career-highs for points (20) andrebounds (17) in the opener, and he scored a career-best 31 pointsin the semifinals.

The CBI trophy remains in the state of North Carolina after UNCWilmington defeated Middle Tennessee last season.