CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina men's basketball team trailed 71-53 with five minutes left in the game and outscored the College of Charleston 28-13 the rest of the way, but came up just short in an 84-81 loss to the Cougars Monday Night at the TD Arena in Charleston, S.C.
Jon Sanders led the Chanticleers' offense with a game-high 17 points, scoring 13 of those in the second half. He also had a game-high six assists.
John Ojiako picked up another double-double, his sixth consecutive, with 12 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
Ian Granja came off the bench and scored 13 points, and led the Chants final push in the last few minutes with three consecutive three-point field goals. His last three with 17 seconds left, cut the Charleston lead down to 80-78.
Freshman
Jacob Meyer added 11 points, reaching double-digits for the ninth time in CCU's 10 games this season, while also grabbing seven rebounds.
CCU shot 42.0 percent (29-69) from the field and 33.3 percent (5-15) on their three-point attempts. The Chants' free throw shooting suffered in tonight's action on connecting on 64.3 percent (18-28) in falling to 3-7 on the season.
The Cougars were led in scoring by James Scott, who was a perfect eight-for-eight from the field and finished with 16 points. Ben Burnham scored 15, while Kobe Rodgers scored 12 points and finished with a double-double with 10 rebounds. Frankie Policelli finished with 11 points as the Cougars moved to 7-4 on the season.
The Chants' defense held CofC to only 36.2 percent (25-69) for the game. After hitting 17 three-pointers in the earlier game this season between the two teams, the Cougars only managed to shoot 24.3 percent (9-37) in Monday's action, but they managed to hit 73.5 percent (25-34) from the free throw line.
The Chants have one more game before the holiday break, when they play host to North Carolina A&T, Thursday, Dec. 21, at 5 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.
