LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Vince Cole scored a game-high 21 points to lead Coastal Carolina University to a 68-55 road win at Little Rock Friday night in Little Rock, Ark.
 
Cole scored 12 points in the opening half and added nine in second half. He had four three-point field goals in eight attempts as the Chanticleers held off a second-half surge by the Trojans that saw them comeback from a 14-point deficit to actually lead CCU 39-38 with just over 14 minutes left in the game.
 
Ebrima Dibba had a solid outing for CCU with 15 points and a game-high seven assists. He also added six rebounds and two steals while only committing one turnover.
 
Essam Mostafa scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds and also had two steals and a blocked shot as CCU moved to 16-12 overall and evened its conference record at 8-8.  The victory was Coastal's third consecutive win.
 
CCU shot 42 percent (24-57) from the field, and 37.5 percent (9-24) from three-point range.  The Chants attempted 16 free throws, making 11 for 68.6 percent.
 
The Chanticleers held the Trojans to 38.8 percent (19-49) and 30.0 percent (6-20) on their three's. LR came into the game shooting 74 percent at the free throw line, but only made 11-of-21 in tonight's game.
 
Admir Besovic came off the bench to lead LR with 14 points, while fellow reserve Jovan Stulic scored 11 points.
 
Cole led the Chants into a 33-25 halftime lead with 12 points. Williams and Dibba added seven each, but the Chants turned the ball over 10 times and only shot 40 percent from the field.
 
Stulic hit a pair of three-point field goals to lead Little Rock with six first-half points. The Trojans only shot 32 percent from the field, but did manage to hit five three-point field goals to keep them close.
 
With the win the Chants wrap up the seventh seed at next week's 2022 Hercules Tire Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Championship, and will face 10th-seeded Georgia Southern on Thursday, March 3 in the final game of the day, which is set to tip off at 8:30 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.