CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina University men's basketball team will be back on the road, as the Chants travel to Rock Hill, S.C., to face an old foe in Winthrop University on Saturday, Dec. 3, at 2 p.m. ET at the Winthrop Coliseum.
The Chants (3-3) are looking to bounce back after falling to UNCW 60-58 in their first home loss of the season this past Wednesday night. The Eagles (4-4) will be looking for their third consecutive win.
It has been a long and storied rivalry between the two in-state programs that are within four hours of each other. The contest will be the 85th time the two teams have faced off in a series that started back in 1978, when both programs were members of the NAIA District 6.
As time moved on, both teams moved into NCAA Division I play and were members of the Big South where the rivalry was continued.
CCU has not played another program more than the Winthrop Eagles and holds a slim 44-40 lead in the overall series. CCU holds a 29-13 record in Conway, while Winthrop has a 28-14 record over the Chants in Rock Hill. CCU has won the past two meetings in the series, including a come-from-behind 92-88 thriller in 2019 in the Winthrop Coliseum. Last season, CCU defeated the Eagles 74-64 at the HTC Center.
Leading the Chanticleers will be
Essam Mostafa who is having a solid start to the 2022-23 season. The junior has recorded five double-doubles in the first six games of the season and is coming off an impressive 21-point, 10-rebound effort against UNCW on Wednesday night. His five double-doubles are a conference-high, as well as second in the nation. He is averaging 14.3 points per game and his 12.0 rebounds per game average not only leads the Sun Belt but is third nationally.
The Chants' leading scorer
Jomaru Brown is averaging 16.3 points per game but is coming off his worse performance of the season with only four points against UNCW.
Linton Brown has been a solid performer off the bench this season, averaging 12.0 points per game. But he too, had an off-night in the two-point loss to UNCW, only scoring three points last time out.
Josh Uduje broke out of a three-game slump with a solid 16-point performance against UNCW. He is averaging 11.2 points per game this season.
Like the Chants, the Eagles have four players averaging in double figures, led by Kelton Talford's 16.6 points per game. Sin'Cere McMahon is next with a 15.5 points per game average, followed by Cory Hightower (13.1) and Toneari Lane (12.3).
The game can be heard on 105.5 Hank FM and can be watched live on ESPN+. Links for both along with live stats can be found at
www.GoCCUSports.com.
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.
