Nov. 12, 2010

Box Score

CONWAY, S.C. - Chad Gray registered a double-double and eight Chanticleers scored in double figures as Coastal Carolina cruised to a 112-52 victory over Piedmont College Friday night from Kimbel Arena.

It was the most points scored by a Coastal Carolina team since the Chanticleers poured in 115 points in a 2003 victory over Lees-McRae.

Gray finished with 22 points and a career-high 11 rebounds and shot 80 percent from the field on 8-of-10 shooting. Danny Nieman, Desmond Holloway and Dexter Moore all added 13 points apiece, while Kierre Greenwood and Willie Kirkland chipped in with 12 points.

Sophomore Anthony Raffa tallied 11 points and a game-high six assists, while Brandon Crawford finished with 10 points and four rebounds. The Chanticleers shot a blistering 62.3 percent from the field and were 38.1 percent from long range. Moore paced the team with four three-pointers, while Kirkland and Raffa both hit a pair.

Michael Ross paced Piedmont College with 18 points and was 4-for-9 from three-point range. Fellow guard Josh Haymore also scored in double figures with 11 points.

Coastal Carolina used its uptempo offense to open an early 4-0 lead on a basket from Gray and a pair of free throws from center Jon Pack. Ross hit back-to-back three-pointers to push the Lions ahead 6-4 before Nieman answered with a trey of his own to put Coastal ahead 7-6.

Holloway scored his first points in a Chanticleer uniform thereafter to up the lead to 9-6, but Ross responded with another three-pointer from the corner to even the score at 9-9. Haymore put the Lions up for the final time on the ensuing possession with a layup, but the Chants answered with a 36-8 run over the next 10 minutes to open up a 45-17 lead.

The Chanticleers built a 33-point lead heading into halftime by limiting Piedmont to just two points over the final 4:24 of the first half.

Coastal (1-0) would lead by as many as 65 points in the second half and dominated every major aspect of the game. The Chants held a 38-20 edge in rebounding and held every Lion to no more than three rebounds.

The Chants forced Piedmont into 25 turnovers and turned those miscues into 43 points. In addition, Coastal held a 60-26 edge in points in the paint and outscored the Lion bench 46-15.

Coastal returns to action Saturday at 6 p.m. when the Chants welcome LaGrange College to Kimbel Arena in the first meeting between the two schools.