Chanticleers Close 2015 At Gardner-Webb
12/30/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
CONWAY - Coastal Carolina men's basketball closes the 2015 calendar year Thursday evening at Gardner-Webb. The Chanticleers and Runnin' Bulldogs are the second game of a New Year's Eve doubleheader with a scheduled start time of 6 p.m., streamed live on the Big South Network.
Game Information
Date / Time: Thurs., Dec. 31, 2015 / 6:00 p.m.
Site: Boiling Springs, N.C. / Paul Porter Arena (3,500)
Audio Broadcast: Chanticleer Sports Network
Radio: WSEA Sports Radio 100.3 "The Team"
Online Audio Link: http://portal.stretchinternet.com/coastal/
Talent: Aaron Marks (play-by-play)
Online Video Broadcast: Big South Network
Live Stats: GWUSports.com
Twitter Updates: @GoCCUSports, @CoastalMBB
Last Time Out
• Jaylen Shaw sank a difficult 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds to play, lifting Coastal Carolina to 68-65 win over Alabama State on Dec. 20 inside the HTC Center.
• Shivaughn Wiggins and Elijah Wilson each scored 13 to lead the Chanticleers. Joining the duo in double-figures was Ron Trapps and Badou Diagne with 11 each, while Shaw finished with nine. Diagne and Tristian Curtis, who made 4-of-5 shots for 8 points, each recorded a game-high eight rebounds.
• Alabama State was paced offensively by Steve Rogers' 14 points on a trio of 3-pointers and a 5-for-5 effort at the line. Corvon Butler scored 13 and Jamel Waters added 11 for the Hornets.
The Series vs. Gardner-Webb
• Coastal Carolina and Gardner-Webb have met 17 times on the basketball court. The series is led 9-8 by the Chanticleers, who have won six of the last 10 meetings.
• GWU won both regular season meetings last year, but the Chants halted the Runnin' Bulldogs in the Big South tournament Semifinal by a 73-70 score.
• The two institutions first met as NAIA members during the 1983-84 season, but not again until Gardner-Webb joined the Big South Conference prior to the 2008-09 season.
• Coastal last won at Grander-Webb on Jan. 11, 2014.
Up Next
• Coastal hosts long-standing rival Winthrop Sat., Jan. 2 at the HTC Center. Tipoff is slated for 2 p.m.
Ellis One Win Away From 700 As A Division I Coach
• Head coach Cliff Ellis is the third-active winningest coach in Division I with 777 career victories. Ellis, who is one win shy of 700 Division I wins, is 19th all-time in NCAA history for career wins (regardless of affiliation with a minimum 10 head coaching seasons at NCAA schools), and is the sixth - active winningest coach across all NCAA classifications. He became the first head coach in NCAA history with 150 wins at four different Division I programs with the Chanticleers' 68-56 victory over UNC Asheville on Feb. 3, 2015. His Division I school-by-school breakdown is as follows: South Alabama - 171, Clemson - 177, Auburn - 186, Coastal Carolina - 165, in addition to 78 wins during his three seasons leading Cumberland College from 1972-75.
Diagne Earns First Career Big South Player of the Week Honor
• Diagne averaged 16.0 points and 7.3 rebounds in leading the Chanticleers to a 2-1 record during the week of Dec. 14-22. He opened with 13 points and seven rebounds in Coastal's victory at Wofford, and followed with 24 points and seven boards at Wake Forest. He scored seven of CCU's final 13 points, which included a pair of 3-pointers, to keep game pressure on the Demon Deacons. Diagne rounded out his week with 11 points and eight rebounds in a win over Alabama State. He went 18-of-29 from the field ( =62.1 percent), 6-of-11 from long range ( =54.5) and 6-of-8 from the charity stripe ( =75.0) in the three games.
• Diagne is the first Chant to be named the conference player of the week since Josh Cameron picked up the honor on Jan. 5, 2015.
Chants Are No Stranger To New Year's Eve Game
• Coastal Carolina is playing on New Year's Eve for the second consecutive season. Last year, Coastal shot 54.9 percent from the field to handily defeat High Point 83-68 on the road.
• The Chants are 3-1 in New Year's Eve fixtures since the turn of the century with a league wins over High Point (2011, 2014), Radford (2010) and a nonconference loss to Clemson (2002).
Notes From The Alabama State Game
• Jaylen Shaw was just 3-of-7 from the field, when the Chants got the ball back with 11 seconds to play and the game tied. Shaw, who inbounded the ball, raced down the floor and drilled the game-winning 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds to play.
• Each of CCU's starters -- Shivaughn Wiggins, Jaylen Shaw, Elijah Wilson, Badou Diagne and Tristian Curtis -- played at least 31 minutes.
• Elijah Wilson totaled a season-high seven rebounds.
• Coastal weathered a five-plus minute scoring drought in the first half and only trailed by four at the intermission.
• Tristian Curtis went 4-of-5 from the field. He is 16-of-17 in his last four games. His season shooting percentage is a team-best 80.5.
