Conway, S.C. – Kylan Blackmon scored 15 points to lead Coastal Carolina, but Spudd Eugene and Myles Rigsby each scored 20 points to lead Troy to a 72-65 win in a Sun Belt Conference game Saturday afternoon at the HTC Center. Troy broke a halftime tie by scoring the first eight points of the second half and led the rest of the way. It was the first conference game of the season for each team.

The win lifts Troy to 7-5 on the season and gives the Trojans their first victory on the road this season.  Coastal, meanwhile, slipped to 3-9 on the year, in spite of having three players in double figures, including center John Ojiako, who just missed on getting his eighth consecutive double-double. Jacob Meyer collected 14 points, while Ojiako added 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds. The three players, including Blackmon, were a combined 16-of-30 from the field, with Blackmon going 5-of-9 and Ojiako going 5-of-7.

The difference was at the free throw line, where Troy converted 21-of-23 foul shots, while Coastal made just 12-of-25 for the game, and only 3-of-12 in the second half.

"It's a fine line with free throws. It's all about confidence," said Coastal interim head coach Benny Moss. "We put ourselves in a position to win, but we have to make free throws in pressure situations. We make them in practice. It's all mental.

"I was happy with our defense, except for two short stretches. Troy started the second half on an 8-0 run and that just can't happen."

Coastal scored the first three buckets of the game and built a 10-point lead, at 19-9, on a pair of free throws by reserve guard Brayon Freeman.  Coastal then held the lead for all but 30 seconds of the first half. Reserve frontcourt big man Braeden MacVicar broke a 27-27 tie with four consecutive points. But Troy got the last four points of the period to make it a 33-33 tie at the break. 

Blackmon led the Chants with eight points in the first half, but Ojiako, the team's leading scorer, went scoreless and missed the last 10 minutes of the half with foul trouble.  Eugene already had 12 points to lead the Trojans.

Troy picked up right where it let off when play resumed, scoring the first eight points of the second half to take a 41-33 lead. And Coastal couldn't get closer than four points the rest of the way.

It was 50-46 midway through the second half when Freeman misfired on a pair of throw attempts and Jimmy Nichols missed a jumper in the lane on back-to-back possessions. Troy then hit the next five points and suddenly had a nine-point lead. The biggest lead of the game for the Trojans was at 61-51 with six minutes remaining.

From there, Coastal went on an 8-2 run to cut the margin to 63-59, with Meyer finishing the run with a breakaway layup. From that point, Coastal made just 1-of-4 free throws in the final two minutes, while the Trojans sank all four of their attempts.

Looking ahead, Coastal will now have road games at Texas State (Jan. 4) and Louisiana (Jan. 6) before returning home to face Appalachian State at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 11.  

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.