EL DORADO, Ark. – Coastal Carolina fell to the No. 43-nationally ranked Georgia Southern Eagles 4-0-1 in match play in the semifinals of the 2021 Sun Belt Conference Men's Golf Championship on Wednesday at Mystic Creek in El Dorado, Ark.

The Chanticleers, who earned their place in the match play event with a fourth-place finish during the stroke play part of the championship, competed in the match play semifinals for the third time this year (2018, 2019, and 2021).

Sophomore Seth Taylor finished tied with Georgia Southern's Mason Williams after 18 holes of play. The second-year Chant went 3-down over the first seven holes of play but stormed back into the match with wins on holes No. 8, 9, and 10 to tie up the match with eight holes to play.

After dropping holes No. 12 and 14 to fall back at 2-down, the Gaffney, S.C. native would take the win at hole No. 15 as well as No. 17 to send the match to the final hole of play. Both he and Williams would par the par-5, hole No. 18 to finish in a tie.

Fifth-year senior States Fort dropped his match 1& 2 to Ben Carr of the Eagles, as Carr held a 1-up lead with two holes to play when the outcome of the team match was decided.

Fort went 1-up with a win on hole No. 2 before dropping the next three holes to fall to 3-down heading into the seventh hole. He then took the hole at No. 7 and won again at No. 9 to make the turn 1-down. The Evans, Ga. native gave up holes No. 12 and 14 but was able to answer with wins on No. 13 and 15 to stay 1-down heading into No. 16 where he matched Carr with a par.

Fellow fifth-year senior Zack Taylor dropped his match at 2&1 with Luke Dasher, as their head-to-head match was tight from start to finish.

Dasher went 1-up with a win on the very first hole and held that lead until Zack Taylor carded a birdie at No. 6 to tie the match up. The Pittsburgh, Pa. native the birdied hole No. 7 to go 1-up where the match would stand until Dasher won three consecutive holes at No. 11, 12, and 13 to take the largest lead of the match at 2-up.

The veteran Chant refused to go away and picked up a win at No. 14 before Dasher went back to 2-up with a victory at No. 15 with three holes to play. The two golfers would both turn in a three on No. 16 and a four on No. 17 to give Dasher the win.

In the other two matches, CCU's Tyler Gray fell to Brett Barron 5&4, while Gavin Noble lost his match to Jake Maples 6&5.

Gray was all even through two holes of play but then dropped holes No. 3, 4, 5, and 7 on the front nine to fall 4-down at the turn. The junior took hole No. 12 after falling at No. 11 to go back to 4-down before a loss at No. 14 ended his day.

Noble dropped the first hole and was able to stay at 1-down with a win at hole No. 3 before Maples won holes No. 4, 5, 7, and 8 to go 4-up through nine holes. Maples run continued with wins at No. 10 and 11 before putting the match away with a win on hole No. 13.

SEMIFINAL: No. 43 Georgia Southern Defeated Coastal Carolina, 4-0-1
Tyler Gray (CCU) lost to Brett Barron (GS), 5&4
Seth Taylor (CCU) tied Mason Williams (GS), Tied
Zack Taylor (CCU) lost to Luke Dasher (GS), 2 & 1
Gavin Noble (CCU) lost to Jake Maples (GS), 6 & 5
States Fort (CCU) lost to Ben Carr (GS), 1 & 2

For complete coverage of CCU men's golf, follow the Chants on social media @CoastalMGolf (Twitter), facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook), @GoCCUsports (Instagram) or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at www.GoCCUsports.com.