Final Stats

Box Score

HIGH POINT, N.C. After leading by as many as 12 in the early stages of the second half, Coastal Carolina hung on down the stretch as Shivaughn Wiggins made a pair of crucial free throws and High Point's Lorenzo Cugini's last-second 3-pointer clanked off the rim, leaving the Chanticleers with a 71-68 victory.

Coastal, the two-time reigning Big South Tournament champion, improved to 10-8 (4-4 Big South) on the season and broke the Panthers 12-game home winning streak. High Point, which has won at least a share of the last three Big South regular season titles, dropped to 12-6 overall (5-2 Big South).

Elijah Wilson led all scorers with 21 points, while also corralling a career-high tying nine rebounds. The junior outdueled the Big South's Preseason Player of the Year in High Point's John Brown, who finished 18 points. Also in double-figures for Coastal was Jaylen Shaw with 14 and HPU's Adam Weary with 19.

The Chanticleers shot 49.1 percent (27-55) from the field, including a 56.3 percent clip (9-16) from 3-point range. Defensively, Coastal limited High Point to a 40.0 overall shooting percentage and only 18.2 percent (4-22 from) deep. Coastal also controlled the boards 38-32.

Coastal surged to an 18-6 lead on Ron Trapps' 3-pointer at the 12:13 mark of the opening half. Two minutes later, Tristian Curtis scored inside to give the Chanticleers their largest lead of the half at 24-9.

Coastal led 27-14 before HPU's Brown rolled off the game's next seven points, cutting the Chants lead to 27-21. High Point got as close as 29-26 on a Tarique Thompson layup with 5:20 to go before the half. However, Coastal would allow their hosts only six more points the rest of the half, while racking up 11 of their own - including an NBA range 3-pointer by Wilson - en route to a 40-32 halftime lead.

Coastal shot 48.4 percent from the field in the opening half, including a ridiculous 66.7 percent (6-of-9) from 3-point range, compared to only 38.7 percent by the homestanding Panthers.

Fueled by two key Wilson 3-pointers Coastal Carolina extended its halftime eight-point advantage to 12 at 54-42 as Marcus Freeman scored inside with 10:14 to play. High Point then used four points at the free-throw line and a 3-pointer by Cugini to piece together a 7-0 run and trim the Chants lead to 54-59.

High Point outscored Coastal 9-7 over the ensuing four minutes, pulling with a possession at 66-63 with 1:04 to play. But, Badou Diagne responded with a 3-pointer on Coastal's next possession which was immediately countered by an Anthony Lindauer three on the other end.

The teams exchanged free throws over the next 10 seconds with Wiggins putting Coastal up three followed by Cugini's miss.

Coastal Carolina has the next six days off before traveling to Charleston to face Lowcountry rival Charleston Southern on Sat., Jan. 23. Tipoff from inside the Buc Dome is set for 5:30 p.m. and can be streamed live on the Big South Network.