CONWAY, S.C. – Josh Uduje hit for a team-high 18 points for Coastal Carolina but it was not enough as Makhi Long had 19 points and Bryce Baker made two free throws with 1.3 seconds remaining to give Old Dominion a 60-59 win in a Sun Belt Conference game Saturday afternoon at the HTC Center.
 
Coastal's Essam Mostafa made 1-of-2 free throws with 16 seconds left to give his team a 59-58 lead, but Baker was fouled on a last-second three-point attempt from the left corner that sent him to the foul line, where he sank two of his three Charity shots to lift Old Dominion to the narrow victory.
 
Mostafa and Linton Brown supported Uduje with 13 points apiece, but Coastal lost its six-point lead with five minutes remaining and slipped to 10-12 overall and 4-6 in the lead. The Monarchs improved to 13-9 and 5-5 behind Long, who had his second-highest point total of the season. He got help from Baker, who had nine points.
 
Coastal made only one field goal in the last 5:49 of action but still led by 56-51 when Mostafa made a free throw at the five-minute mark. From there, the Chanticleers managed just 2-of-4 free throws the rest of the way. Meanwhile, Baker hit a three-pointer that started a 6-0 run for the Monarchs, setting up a dramatic finish.
 
"We stole one from them up there and now they stole one from us. I thought we had it. I knew that last shot was missed," said Coastal head coach Cliff Ellis of Baker's last-second shot. "It's just a tough one, and we have to find a way to pull these games out. They got too many rebounds. It came down to rebounding and free throws, and we didn't do our part. We have to look at getting better."
 
Coastal started slowly, falling behind by eight before the Chants connected on three buckets from beyond the arc on a 9-1 run to knot the score at 13-13 midway through the first half. Linton Brown made two of those long-range shots and followed with another that tied the score at 17-17.
 
Uduje then capped a 6-0 run for the Chants with a three-pointer that gave them a momentary lead at 28-27 with 3:30 remaining in the period. But the lead lasted only 32 seconds before the Monarchs regained the advantage with a pair of threes and stretched their lead to 35-28 at the half. Uduje had Coastal's only field goal in the last seven minutes of the first half, and CCU converted just 4-of-8 free throws over that time frame. Uduje and Brown each had 10 points in the first half.
 
Coastal fell behind a bit more as Old Dominion got the first three points of the second half. But Coastal didn't fold as Uduje got eight points in his team's 18-2 run and took a 46-40 lead, holding the Monarchs scoreless for almost six minutes. Kylan Blackmon added a long-range bucket that gave Coastal its biggest lead of the game at 48-41.
 
From there, Coastal held a slim lead until the Monarchs took the lead on a jumper by D'Angelo Stines with 2:14 to go. A free throw by Antonio Daye, who finished with nine points and five assists, and another by Mostafa put the Chants back on top at 59-58 until the final 1.3 seconds.
 
Coastal shot just 31 percent (18-of-59) for the game and hit on just 7-of-29 attempts from beyond the arc. The Chants, who were the league-leaders in free throw percentage, converted just 16-of-26 from the foul line and were just 2-of-5 down the stretch in the second half after starting the second period hitting 9-of-9. The rebounds were roughly even, with Uduje getting nine to lead the Chants. Long had a career-high 19 rebounds for Old Dominion.
 
Coastal hits the road again next week for games at ULM on Thursday, Feb. 2, at 7:30 p.m. ET, and at Arkansas State, on Saturday, Feb. 4, at 3 p.m. ET.
 
CCU will return home for a four-game home stand starting on Feb. 9 when the Chants will host Marshall at 6 p.m. ET. Three more home contests will follow to conclude the HTC schedule. The stretch includes games versus James Madison at 2 p.m. ET on Feb. 11, Georgia State at 7 p.m. ET on Feb. 16, and Texas State at 2 p.m. ET on Feb. 18.
 
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.