TROY, Ala. – The Coastal Carolina University men's basketball team went on the road needing a win and picked up a big one with a come-from-behind 75-59 win at Troy Friday night at the Trojan Arena.
The road win for the Chanticleers (14-6 / 8-5 Sun Belt) was only their second road win of the season. It also keeps CCU in the running for a second-place finish in the Sun Belt Conference East Division depending on what happens in the other divisional games.
Essam Mostafa, playing what may have been his best game of the season, picked up his sixth double-double of the year with a 23-point, 12-rebound performance. He hit seven of his 10 field goals, including the first three-point field goal of his career, and was 8-of-10 at the free throw line.
He had plenty of help scoring as three other Chanticleers joined him in double figures.
Deanthony Tipler, playing only his second game in a month, added 15 points off the bench and
Garrick Green scored 13.
The Chants' leading scorer
DeVante' Jones, who was held scoreless in the opening 20 minutes, had 12 second-half points and added his fourth double-double of the season with 10 rebounds. It was his second consecutive double-double performance.
After trailing by five at the break, the Chants came out in the second half and outscored the Trojans 26-9 in the first nine minutes of the second half to take a 54-42. The Chants went on to lead by as many as 19 points (69-50) with six minutes left and cruised the rest of the way for the victory.
CCU did a lot of damage on the boards outrebounding Troy (10-15 / 4-11 Sun Belt) 46-37 with 12 of those coming on the offensive glass. Those turned into 14 second-chance points.
Nick Stampley came into the game as Troy's leading scorer at just over 12 points per game. He scored 14 in Friday night's action to lead the Trojans. Only one other player contributed with double digits and that was Desmond Williams who scored 12 points, all in the first half.
The Chants jumped out to a 10-4 lead to start the game only to see the Trojans fight back to take a 33-28 lead at halftime. Williams led the Trojans in their comeback with 12 first-half points as the home-standing Trojans only shot 40 percent from the field.
CCU was not any better as the Chants also shot 40 percent from the field but hit five of their 13 three-point attempts. Mostafa had a solid first half scoring 14 points while Tipler had eight and Green six. Jones failed to score and only attempted three shots in the opening half.
The Chanticleers and Trojans will meet again tomorrow in the second game of the season-ending series at 5 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 goccusports.com.
