STATESBORO, Ga. – Essam Mostafa scored 19 points and freshman Josh Uduje hit three crucial free throws in the final seconds, as Coastal Carolina University held on for a 76-72 win at Georgia Southern on Thursday night in Statesboro, Ga.
 
The Chants held a 67-56 lead with less than two minutes to go in the game, but the Eagles made a huge run, hitting three three-point field goals and taking advantage of some CCU turnovers and missed free throws to cut the Coastal lead down to 73-70 with 26 seconds left in the contest.

That's when Uduje stepped up to the free throw line to hit three consecutive free throws to push the Chants' lead to 76-70.

A free Georgia Southern layup at the end of the game finished the scoring.

CCU moves to 10-8 overall and 2-4 in the Sun Belt with the victory. The win was also the Chants' first true road win of the season.
 
CCU had a total of four double-digit scorers on the, night as Vince Cole continued his hot scoring with 15 points. Rudi Williams finished with 14 and Uduje added 13 of his own.
 
CCU shot 54.2 percent from the field and hit 7-of-13 three-point field goals for 53.8 percent. The Chants missed some free throws in the second half but did hit five of their final six charity tosses to finish 17-of-25 for 68 percent.
 
For the first time in three games, the Chants won the battle of the boards, grabbing 37 rebounds compared to 27 from the Eagles. Turnovers haunted the Chanticleers, however, as their 17 miscues led to 24 points for the Eagles.
 
Elijah McCadden came off the bench for Georgia Southern to score a game-high 20 points. Kamari Brown scored 15 and Andrei Savrasov added 14 as Georgia Southern fell to 8-8 overall and 1-4 in the conference.
 
The Chanticleers shot 50 percent from the field in the first half with Williams' 10 points leading the Chants. Mostafa scored eight points with five rebounds in the opening 20 minutes of play, while Cole scored six points, and saw his three-point field goal with one minute left in the half gave CCU a 31-28 halftime lead.
 
Savrasov scored 10 points to lead the Eagles in the opening period who took advantage of nine CCU turnovers to score 15 points off those turnovers to stay close.
 
CCU will continue its current road trip at Georgia State, Saturday, Jan. 22, at 2 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.