Chants Seek Signature Win Thursday Against No. 20 Georgetown
11/17/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 17, 2010
Coastal Carolina (2-1) vs. No. 20/21 Georgetown (2-0)
Thursday | 11.18.10 | 12:00 p.m.
Charleston, S.C. | Carolina First Arena (5,100)
MEDIA
Live Stats:
Live Radio: Chanticleer Sports Network (Matt Hogue, play-by-play)
Live TV: MASN
CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Coastal Carolina men's basketball team looks to make its first statement of the season Thursday when the Chanticleers face No. 20 Georgetown at noon in the opening round of the Charleston Classic from Carolina First Arena.
Coastal Carolina (2-1) suffered its first loss of the season Tuesday with an 83-67 setback to the College of Charleston. The Chanticleers held a 40-28 lead at the half, but the College of Charleston shot 64.3 percent in the second half and hit eight three-pointers to erase the Coastal lead.
Chanticleer junior Desmond Holloway scored a career-high 24 points to go along with nine rebounds. Danny Nieman added 14 points and tied his career-high with four three-pointers, while Sam McLaurin grabbed a game-high 11 boards and scored eight points. Brandon Crawford also scored in double figures with 10 points.
Holloway has scored in double figures in each of his three games thus far this season and enters the Charleston Classic first on the team with 18.3 points per game. The Indianapolis, Ind., native is also second in the team with 7.3 rebounds per game.
Fellow newcomer Willie Kirkland is second on the team with 11.5 points per game, while Nieman pours in 11.0 points per game and is shooting 42.9 percent from beyond the arc. Senior forward Chad Gray is the fourth Chanticleer in double figures and enters Thursday averaging 10.0 points per game.
McLaurin paces the Chants with 8.0 rebounds per game and has recorded three blocked shots thus far this season. He needs one more rejection to move into sole possession of eighth place on the school's all-time list.
Georgetown (2-0) opened the season with a 62-59 win at Old Dominion on Nov. 12 before knocking off Tulane 69-53 Monday night in Washington, D.C.
The Hoyas are led on the offensive end by the 20.0 points per game of senior guard Austin Freeman. Freeman has also proven to be one of the top shooters in the NCAA and enters the tournament shooting 50.0 percent from long range.
Forward Jason Clark averages 17.5 points per game and leads the team on the glass with 7.5 rebounds per game.
Georgetown owns a 5-0 lead over Coastal Carolina in the all-time series that dates back to the 1999-2000 season. Thursday's meeting between the two schools will be the first since the 2003-04 season. In that game, Georgetown posted an 81-68 home win over the Chanticleers. Tuesday will be the first meeting on a neutral court between Coastal and Georgetown, as all previous five contests were in Washington, D.C.
