When the Citadel’s Harrison DuPont grabbed the offensive rebound on an air-ball, he had no choice but to throw the ball and hope it would bounce off Tony White, Jr. to land out of bounds.

Sure enough, the ball hit White’s shoulder and landed out of bounds. Citadel coach Ed Conroy took a timeout and orchestrated what would be the key play in his 72-65 victory over Bobby Cremins’ Charleston Cougars.

On the inbounds play with 7 seconds on the shot clock, the Bulldogs’ Zach Urbanus gave a head fake to throw a jumping Casaan Breeden out of his way and then hit the 3-pointer. The shot was Urbanus’ fifth 3-pointer of the half and capped his night with a team-high 17 points.

That final shot is what did Charleston in, Bobby Cremins said after the game.

“I thought we were alright until Urbanus hit that shot. We had a chance to win until he hit that shot,” said Cremins, whose team fell to 11-3 in the Southern Conference and 16-9 overall.

The loss was Charleston’s first at the Carolina First Arena this season and first since Feb. 14, 2009 when they lost again to the Citadel.

The second half featured nine lead changes and four ties as the game came down to final minute.

“For a minute, we were scoring back and forth. I feel our key play was when the guy ran and threw the ball off me,” said White, who finished with 15 points. “That really changed the game because they got an extra possession and Urbanus hit a three. I take responsibility for that one.”

The intensity of the rivalry made the loss even harder to bear for Andrew Goudelock, who had his third career double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds.

“It’s a tough loss. They played really well. There’s not anything you can do about it,” Goudelock said. “There’s nothing you can do to stop it from hurting, losing to a rival. They played better than us today.”

The Citadel made it big where the College normally perfects: shooting 3s. The Bulldogs shot near 54 percent (7-13) from behind the arc, and the Cougars shot 26 percent (6-23), making only six, a season-low.

The Bulldogs, who improved to 7-6 in conference play and 13-12 overall, also outrebounded the Cougars 37-29 and had five players with at least five rebounds. DuPont led the Bulldogs with six rebounds. DuPont also scored 15 points.

In the first half, the Citadel got out to an early 19-10 lead, but at 10:39 the Cougars came storming back on a 21-8 run. During the run, Jeremy Simmons scored 7 of his 14 points, including two dunks that lifted the crowd to their feet.

The Cougars went into the half with the 31-27 lead, but the two teams kept fighting the entire game. Cremins said teams like the Citadel make this league exciting.

“That was a terrific basketball game. I congratulate Citadel. It was a really exciting game and they played great. The Citadel is as good as anyone in our league,” Cremins said.

The College will continue its five-game homestand with a game against Elon on Thursday. The Phoenix are coming off a win against North Division leader Western Carolina.