The College of Charleston men’s basketball team used a commanding run spanning the end of the first half and the beginning of the second to take control, before holding off the Blue Hens down the stretch as the Cougars recorded a 78-65 Colonial Athletic Association victory over Delaware Thursday night at TD Arena.

Charleston (22-8, 13-4 CAA), which won its third straight game, remained in second place in the league standings with its 11th home win of the season.

The Blue Hens (12-18, 5-12 CAA) dropped their second straight and will be the ninth seed in next week’s CAA Tournament at the North Charleston Coliseum.

Jarrell Brantley finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Cougars while Joe Chealey also notched a double-double, the first of his career, with 20 points and 10 rebounds to go with seven assists. Charleston shot 46.9 percent from the field, knocked down 25 of 29 free throws and held a 38-33 rebounding advantage.

Blue Hen senior guard Cazmon Hayes scored a season-high 20 points for Delaware, knocking down four three-pointers, and now needs just five points to reach 1,000 for his career. Eric Carter added 14 points and eight rebounds for the Blue Hens, while Ryan Daly reached double figures for the eighth consecutive game with 10 points while grabbing a team-high nine boards. Delaware shot just 34.9 percent from the floor, including 8 of 26 from three-point range.

The opening half was a back and forth affair that featured 11 lead changes, and neither team led by more than four points for the first 18 minutes. A baseline jumper by Carter gave the Blue Hens a 26-23 lead with 4:25 on the clock, but Charleston answered with a nine-point spurt to take a six-point advantage. Darian Bryant ended the run with a pair of free throws, before Grant Riller added two of his own to give the Cougars a 34-28 halftime edge.

Charleston then opened the second period by scoring the first 14 points, extending the margin to 48-28 on a Jaylen McManus three-pointer at the 15:09 mark. Bryant converted a layup with 14:27 left to give Delaware its first points of the half and snap a 10-minute field goal drought, before the Cougars took their largest lead of the night at 51-30 with 14:37 to play.

The Blue Hens close their regular season on Saturday when Delaware travels to Elon for a 7 p.m. game with the Phoenix.

College baseball

Wesley 34, Valley Forge 1: The 34-run outburst by Wolverines account for the most runs scored in a game in team history, besting the previous mark of 31 runs against Gallaudet on March 13, 2008.

Every starting position player had a hit in the contest and the Wolverines scored in every inning, picking up 18 runs in the third and 10 runs in the fourth innings. The game was called in the sixth inning due to darkness.

Trey Mears set a new record for the most runs batted in a single game. Mears drove in nine while going 5-for-6 with four runs scored, two doubles and two stolen bases.

Chris Seibert and Mike Calvarese each notched a double, three hits and three runs scored for the Wolverines while Calvarese knocked in five runs. Chris Bramble crossed the plate four times while Edward Hogan and Mike Sabino added two hits and two runs scored.

Alex Marrs picked up the win for the Wolverines, striking out four in two innings.