Frankie Sullivan scored 20 of his 24 points in the second half to lead Auburn to a 55-51 victory over College of Charleston at the Charleston Classic on Friday night.
Sullivan had to leave Thursday night's loss to Murray State and get stitches after opening a cut on his right arm when he crashed into the scorer's table. He was back and on target for the Tigers (2-1), although sporting a black wrap over the affected area. Sullivan scored Auburn's first 14 points of the second half as the Tigers built an 40-32 lead and held on.
Auburn will face Dayton for fifth place on Sunday while College of Charleston (2-1) tries to avoid losing three straight on its home floor when it plays Boston College for seventh in the eight-team tournament.
Anthony Stitt had 11 points to lead the Cougars.
The Tigers had to withstand a few tense moments at the end. College of Charleston cut Auburn's lead to three points three times in the final minute, but could not get closer. Shareif Adamu and Sullivan each made two foul shots and Noel Johnson one to keep Auburn out front.
Adamu and Johnson each had 11 points for the Tigers.
Adjehi Baru had 11 rebounds for College of Charleston.
Auburn was much sharper against College of Charleston than it was in a 79-59 loss to Murray State here on Thursday night. In that one, the Tigers trailed 27-10 in the game's first 12 minutes and were eventually down by 36 points.
Against the Cougars, Auburn didn't have a turnover the first 17 minutes. Still, the Tigers left for the locker room trailing 23-22.
College of Charleston was also looking for a positive performance after falling out of the winner's bracket on its home court with a 64-53 loss to St. John's.
The Cougars' defense took control of things in the opening half, holding Auburn's shooters to less than 26 percent shooting. It might've been worse if the Tigers' Noel Johnson hadn't hit three 3-pointers and scored 11 points in the period.
Auburn moved in front 22-19 on Johnson's final three of the half. But Trent Wiedeman followed with a dunk and Stitt made two foul shots to give the Cougars their halftime lead.
