Coastal Carolina University
9-1
Lynchburg
7-4
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lynchburg College | 40 | 21 | 61 |
| Coastal Carolina | 45 | 41 | 86 |
12/16/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 16, 2011
CONWAY - Anthony Raffa and Chris Gradnigo combined to score 44 points as Coastal Carolina defeated Lynchburg 86-61 Friday, Dec. 16 in Kimbel Arena.
Raffa scored 14 of his game-high 26 points in the second half as Coastal outscored Lynchburg 41-21 after halftime, improving to 9-1 on the year for the first time in school history. The Chanticleers opened last season with a 2-2 mark before winning 22 games in a row to tie a school record with 28 wins on the season.
Coastal led Lynchburg by 14 points with 5:57 remaining in the opening period but the Hornets posted a 16-7 run to finish the half, cutting the Chanticleer lead to five, 45-40.
Lynchburg cut the Coastal lead to three with a layup by Austin Chillemi with 19:30 remaining in the second half. Coastal countered with a 20-5 run over the next eight minutes to push the lead to 18 with 11:30 remaining in the game.
Coastal finished the game 33-of-59 from the field (55.9%) while limiting Lynchburg to 22-of-58 (37.9%) including only eight field goals in the second half. The Chanticleers entered the week ranked third in the nation in field goal percentage (53.0%) and 10th in scoring margin (+19.7).
The Chanticleers out-rebounded the Hornets 41-28 with Gradnigo leading all players with a game-high nine boards to go with his 18 points.
Danny Nieman, in his first game back for the Chanticleers, added four points, two rebounds, an assist and one steal in eight minutes of play. Nieman started all of Coastal's 34 games last season.
Kierre Greenwood posted eight points and eight assists along with a pair of blocks and two steals.
Coastal will take to the road to face the East Carolina Pirates on Monday, Dec. 19 at 7 p.m. in Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum in Greenville, N.C.
