Men's Basketball Loses to Eastern Kentucky, 77-62
12/4/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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CONWAY, SC – The Coastal Carolina men’s basketball squad could not convert their small halftime lead, eventually losing to visiting Eastern Kentucky, 77-62, Dec. 4 at Kimbel Arena. With the loss, the Chanticleers fall to 0-6 on the season, while the Colonels continue their best start since 1951, moving to 5-0.
EKU took the lead off the bat and, though the Chanticleers tied it at 4-4, the Colonels eventually built the lead to as many as 11 at 28-17 with 6:49 to go. Coastal put on a spurt to close out the half, asfour Chants contributed to 15-3 run and CCUled 32-31 at the halftime break.
Eastern Kentucky came out in the second half and grabbed the lead again with a 10-2 run to go up 41-34 with 16:55 to play. The Chants cut it to four on a conventional three-point play by senior Clint Nagel to make it 41-37, but that is as close as CCU would get, as an 8-2 EKU run pushed the advantage to 10 and never let it slip below six the remainder of the game.
The Colonels blistered the nets, hitting 58.8 percent from the field, including 65.4 percent (17-for-26) in the second half. CCU did outrebound the visitors 32-31, but points in the paint and points off turnovers were the differences, as EKU outscored the Chants 42-28 in the paint and 22-13 off turnovers.
Coastal was led by junior Pele Paelay with 14 points, while Nagel added 12 and senior Alvin Green had a season-high 11 points and four assists. Eastern Kentucky had four players in double figures, led by Jason McLeish with 19 points. Alonzo Hird chipped in a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Michael Haney and Matt Witt added 16 and 12, respectively.
Coastal will take the next week off for finals and be at home next, Sun., Dec. 14 at 3 p.m., as the Chants host Coker for a non-conference battle.
