NASSAU, Bahamas –
Essam Mostafa scored 23 points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds to earn all-tournament honors but it was not enough as Coastal Carolina fell to Toledo 79-70 in the championship game of the Baha Mar Nassau Championship on Wednesday night.
It was a game that saw both teams make significant runs, but the Rockets made the plays down the stretch to pull out the victory. After the Chants jumped out to a 26-7 lead through the first 10 minutes of action, Toledo went on a 27-8 run to pull even at 34 at the break.
The second half followed a similar script as Toledo built a seven-point lead four minutes into the second stanza. This time, the Chants fought back to take a 51-50 lead with 12 minutes left.
CCU (2-2) took a 63-61 lead on a Mostafa basket with 5:38 left in the game before Toledo took over by outscoring CCU 18-7 to pull out the nine-point victory.
Rudi Williams had his best game in a CCU uniform finishing with 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting. He hit five of his eight three-point attempts and had four rebounds and four assists.
The Chants' bench held an 18-5 scoring advantage over the Rockets with most of that coming from
Wilfried Likayi who had a career-high 14 points off the bench to go with his six rebounds.
CCU did a good job moving the ball around, finishing with 17 assists on 28 made field goals.
Tournament MVP Ryan Rollins was a one-man wrecking crew for Toledo (5-1). He finished with a game-high 35 points. Teammate Setric Millner scored 15 and JT Shumate added 10.
CCU finished the game shooting 44.4 percent from the field while Toledo shot 43.8. Toledo did hit nine three-pointers, one more than CCU's eight treys. There was a big difference at the free throw line where the aggressive Rockets shot 19 free throws making 14, while CCU was just 6-of-8.
Mostafa had 17 first-half points to lead CCU's offense. Williams added eight as the Chants finished the opening 20 minutes shooting 46 percent from the field, but could only hit three of their 12 attempts from beyond the three-point line.
Rollins had 14 at the half to lead Toledo with nine of his points coming on three's. The Rockets made their run by hitting seven three's in the opening half. They only had five two-point field goals and finished the first half shooting 32 percent from the field.
The Chanticleers will be back at home on Dec. 1 to host South Carolina at the HTC Center with tip-off set for 7 p.m. ET.
For complete coverage of CCU men's basketball, follow the Chants on social media @CoastalMBB (Twitter), facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook), @GoCCUSports (Instagram), or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at www.GoCCUSports.com.
