HONOLULU - Donavan Monroe's 15-foot jumper from the right baseline with 1.1 seconds left lifted the College of Charleston to a dramatic 72-71 win over Southern Methodist in the Diamond Head Classic at the Stan Sheriff Center on Wednesday.

The Cougars, who improved to 6-5, play Western Michigan at 4:30 p.m. est. on Dec. 25th in their final game of the Classic. SMU fell to 4-5.

Monroe's jumper ended a furious final seconds. After Paul McCoy scored on a putback with six seconds left to give SMU a 71-70 advantage, Monroe took the inbounds pass, raced the length of the court and nailed the game-winner for Charleston's first-ever win over a Conference USA team (1-1).

Monroe scored 11 points and Tony White, Jr. added nine, all on 3-pointers, as the Cougars took a 37-30 lead at intermission. Casaan Breeden's three-pointer with 4:05 left ignited a 14-5 Charleston run to end the half.

SMU opened the second half with a 23-8 run to take a 53-45 lead with 11:18 remaining. Jeremy Simmons scored four points in an 8-0 Charleston stretch that tied the game at 53-all with 8:48 left. Charleston fell behind by five points before White hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Cougars a 67-66 advantage with 4:25 left.

Simmons equaled his career-high with 18 points, while White and Monroe added 15 points each. Andrew Goudelock scored 14 points and dished out a team-high four assists.

Mouhammad Faye paced the Mustangs with 17 points, while Papa Dia had 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

For the game, the Cougars shot 51.0 percent from the floor hit 26-of-51 attempts. SMU shot 40.6 percent from the floor (28-69). SMU outrebounded the Cougars 44-23, including 18-0 on the offensive glass.