CONWAY, S.C. – With the 2021-22 season winding down, the Coastal Carolina University men's basketball team will be back at the HTC Center to host four consecutive games over back-to-back weekends to end the home portion of the season.
 
The first two games of the homestand will begin with Georgia State on Thursday, Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. ET. Georgia Southern will make their way to Conway to face the Chanticleers on Saturday, Feb. 12 at 2 p.m. ET.
 
ABOUT COASTAL
 
The Chanticleers enter the week of action at 12-10 overall and 4-6 in Sun Belt play. The Chants have lost consecutive close games in a late seven-point loss to Arkansas State (66-73) and another late five-point defeat at Texas State (64-69). The Chants have lost their 10 games by a combined 62 points, which comes out to 6.2 points per game or just over two possessions per game.
 
Vince Cole enters the home contests coming off what may be his best half of basketball in a CCU uniform. The senior transfer picked up two early fouls against Texas State and missed most of the opening half. He came out in the second half and scored 14 points, grabbed five rebounds, handed out three assists, recorded three steals, and blocked a shot. His point total was a team-high and his three steals were a game-high. He ranks seventh in the Sun Belt in scoring, while his 41.7 three-point percentage leads the conference and is 34th nationally.
 
While Essam Mostafa struggled on the offensive end of the court, he did just enough to pick up his 11th double-double of the season and the 20th of his career, with 11 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. He continues to rank eighth in the Sun Belt in scoring (14.9 ppg) and his 9.9 rebounds per game average is second. His double-double total is second in the conference and is 12th nationally.
 
After going through a mid-season slump, senior Rudi Williams has rebounded to average almost 15 points per game over the last six outings, scoring in double digits in each of those games. He is 14th in the conference in scoring, averaging just over 13 points per game on the year.
 
The Chants all-everything Ebrima Dibba continues to show why he is one of the top guards, not only in the Sun Belt but nationally as well. Dibba has picked up his scoring over the past six games averaging 10 points per outing. He also has continued to distribute the basketball as his 6.1 assists per game average leads the conference and is 10th nationally.
 
COASTAL vs. GEORGIA STATE HISTORY
 
CCU holds a 7-5 lead in the overall series and is 5-2 in games played in Conway. The Chanticleers will be going for the season sweep after defeating the Panthers 72-68 in overtime back on Jan. 22 in Atlanta. It was only the second time in the series CCU has won on Georgia State's home court.
 
Georgia State is one of the surprise teams in the conference, although not in a good way. The Panthers were picked to win the Sun Belt in a preseason vote of the conference's head coaches, however they enter Thursday's contest in 10th place with a 9-10 overall record and at 3-5 in the conference. After a slow start, GSU has seemed to get back on track and enters the game winners of three of their last four games since the loss to CCU.
 
Corey Allen leads the Panthers averaging 14.6 points per game with Kane Williams and Justin Roberts both chipping in at 12.0 points per game. Williams makes the offense go with a team-high 73 assists while Eliel Nsoseme, who had a double-double against CCU in the earlier game, is averaging almost 10 points per game and 10.3 rebounds per game while shooting 63 percent from the field.
 
Defensive pressure is what makes the Panthers go as they lead the league in forced turnovers with 180 and have a Sun Belt-best 5.6 turnover ratio. They also have 82 blocked shots.
 
COASTAL vs. GEORGIA SOUTHERN HISTORY
 
The Chanticleers hold a slim 7-6 edge in the series and picked up a 76-72 victory over the Eagles back in January. CCU holds a 4-3 lead in the series when the teams play in Conway, including a 65-55 win back in 2021.
 
Like Georgia State, the Eagles have won three out of their past four games since the Chants' win in Statesboro and enter the week of action ninth in the conference with an 11-10 overall record and at 4-6 in conference action.
 
Elijah McCadden is averaging 11.8 points per game to lead GS, followed by Andrei Savrasov and his average of 10.5 points per game and team-best 5.7 rebounds per game.
 
Kamari Brown may be the Eagles' top all-around player. He averages 9.6 points per game while shooting 45 percent from the field, 34.1 percent on his three-point attempts, and 83.6 percent at the free throw line. He also averages 3.8 rebounds per game, and has 34 assists, a team-high 14 blocked shots, and 15 steals.
 
Both games can be heard on WRNN 99.5 Hot Talk and 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.