CONWAY, S.C. – Vince Cole tallied a career-high 28 points, as Coastal Carolina led all the way in scoring an easy 79-58 win over Georgia Southern in a Sun Belt Conference game Saturday afternoon at the HTC Center. Cole led four players in double figures for the Chanticleers, who improved to 13-11 overall and 5-7 in the league. Rudi Williams added 18 points, while Garrick Green, and Wilfried Likayi had 10 apiece.  Point guard Ebrima Dibba had nine points, all in the second half.
 
Elijah McCadden scored 14 points to lead Georgia Southern, which fell to 11-12 overall and 4-8 in the Sun Belt. It was the third consecutive loss for the Eagles, who lost to Coastal earlier in the year, 76-72.
 
Cole, a 6'6" senior guard, also hit for 20 points in Coastal's last contest, and now has had 20 or more points in seven games, while hitting double figures in each of the last 15 games. He came into the game averaging 18 points per conference game and improved on his standing as the league's fourth-leading scorer.
 
"Vince was on fire. He and Rudi were tremendous today. That was the medicine we needed," said Coastal head coach Cliff Ellis, whose team had lost its last three games. "They both had their confidence and they kept it going."
 
Cole wasted no time in putting his stamp on the contest, as he scored seven of his team's first 10 points, staking Coastal to a 10-2 early lead. The lanky sharpshooter then turned it up a notch, hitting for 13 consecutive points for the Chanticleers to put them in front 26-10 midway through the first half. Georgia Southern briefly cut the margin to seven at 33-26, but could get no closer the rest of the game. The Chants held a 41-30 advantage at the break, with Cole getting 23 points. He made his first eight shots from the field, five of which came from beyond the arc.
 
Cole, a transfer from St. John's, only took four shots and got five points in the second half, but his jumper midway through the second period put the Chants comfortably in front by 19 at 55-36. Green added a bucket to cap an 8-2 run that gave Coastal its largest lead at 23 points at 63-40 with 8:25 remaining.
 
CCU held the Eagles to 34.0 percent shooting and the defense forced 17 turnovers while tying a season-high with 11 steals and Cole had a game-high four of those.
 
Cole finished 10-of-14 from the field, while Williams was equally as good. Williams, a nifty 6'2" guard who transferred to Coastal from Kansas State, hit on 7-of-11 shots. He also dished out a team, game, and career-high eight assists. As a team, Coastal shot 27-of-50 from the field (54 percent) and hit 12 three-pointers, with Cole getting six of those.
 
The frontline players also did their job in out-rebounding Georgia Southern 38-26. Essam Mostafa grabbed a team-high eight boards, while Likayi got six and Green got five.
 
Coastal will continue its home stretch to close the regular season with two more games next week. The Chants will host South Alabama at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday and Troy at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday. The Sun Belt Conference Tournament will follow from March 3-7 at the Pensacola (Fla.) Bay Center.
 
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.