CONWAY, S.C. – Essam Mostafa and Antonio Daye each scored 15 points to pace Coastal Carolina, but Georgia Southern put five players in double figures and pulled away in the final 10 minutes to earn a 73-64 win over the Chanticleers in a Sun Belt Conference contest Saturday afternoon at the HTC Center.
 
There were 13 lead changes and six ties before the Eagles broke in front to stay with a 12-2 run to go in front by 10 at 63-53, with five minutes left in the contest. The Eagles made a couple of three-pointers on the run and hit nine for the game, which proved to be the difference. They finished the day by making 6-of-10 free throws in the final two minutes to keep Coastal from making a late challenge. Neither team held more than a seven-point lead until the final five minutes.
 
"They did some things that they haven't done. They had it going today. They weren't supposed to make the threes," said Coastal head coach Cliff Ellis, who was surprised by the Eagles making 9-for-24 from beyond the arc when they had made only 27 percent of those shots on the season. "(Kaden) Archie's threes were huge. That's a veteran team and that proved to be a plus for them. We stole a win the other night against Louisiana (77-76), but we gave one away today."
 
Kaden Archie and Jalen Finch each scored 16 points to pace Georgia Southern, which is now 9-6 overall and 2-0 in the league.  Andrei Savrasov added 16 points and Tyren Moore and Kamari Brown each had 10. Archie's points were the ones that hurt, as he hit 4-of-6 three-pointers after making just 5-of-30 attempts from long range before this game.
 
Mostafa and Daye were helped by Josh Uduje's 12 points, but the Chants slipped to 7-6 overall and 1-1 in the Sun Belt. There was also consolation in Mostafa getting a team-high 13 rebounds to record his 31st career double-double and the ninth of the season.
 
Jomaru Brown was held under double figures for only the third time on the year, as the senior guard, who averages 16 points a game, settled for just four points on 2-of-8 shooting. Mostafa and Daye combined to shoot 13-of-23 from the field and the Chants shot 27-of-59 overall, making one more basket than the visiting Eagles. But Georgia Southern had nine three-pointers as compared to just six for Coastal.
 
The teams went back-and-forth early, as they exchanged the lead six times in the first half before Coastal broke on top when Mostafa scored three consecutive baskets for his team to put the Chanticleers in front by seven at 30-23. But Georgia Southern answered with a 9-0 run to recapture the lead, and the Eagles led at 37-36 at the break.
 
Mostafa already had 11 points in the first half and Uduje had 10, but the Chants' leading scorer, Jomaru Brown, was held scoreless.
 
The Chants will begin the New Year with four road games before coming home again on Jan. 19 to host Appalachian State in a 7 p.m. ET tip-off.
 
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