Men's Basketball Drops Season Opener at Jacksonville State
11/21/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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JACKSONVILLE, ALA. -- The Coastal Carolina men's basketball team opened its 2005-06 season with an 82-71 loss at Jacksonville State, Nov. 21. With the loss, CCU falls to 0-1 on the year, while JSU wins its home opener to even its record at 1-1.
The Chanticleers jumped out early in the contest, as sophomore Jack Leasure hit back-to-back three pointers to open the scoring, giving Coastal a quick 6-0 lead less than a minute into the contest. Coastal continued to lead throughout the first half, building the lead to as many as 13 with 4:35 to go in the half, before settling for a 46-34 halftime advantage.
The host Gamecocks came out on fire in the second half after CCU got the first basket, scoring the next seven points to cut the margin to seven at 48-41 with 16:48 to go in the game. JSU continued to chip away at the lead by each media timeout, eventually tying the game at 65 with 6:04 to go. With exactly five minutes to go, the two teams were tied at 67, but the Gamecocks went on an 8-0 run over the next 1:56 to take control of the game. JSU pushed it to the final margin with free throws down the stretch.
Coastal did shoot 48.9 percent for the game from the field, but was just 36.4 percent (8-for-22) in the second half. JSU shot 43.4 percent in the game but were a solid 50.0 percent (11-for-22) in the second half and took advantage of the free throw line, canning 22-of-25 attempts in the second half and 29-for-36 for the game (80.6 percent). One difference was turnovers, as CCU committed 23 turnovers, 16 of them in the second half.
CCU was led by Leasure with 21 points, including five three-pointers, while freshman Matt Brennan chipped in 15 in his Coastal debut. Senior Pele Paelay had 12, while sophomore Chad Ferguson posted 10.
Jacksonville State had three in double figures, as Walker D. Russell had 19 and Dorien Brown and Courtney Bradley each had 17. Brown made it a double-double with a game-high 14 rebounds.
The Chants stay on the road to take on Big Ten foe Wisconsin, Sat., Nov. 26 at 7 p.m. (CST).
