San Marcos, Texas – Brayon Freeman came off the bench to score 15 points to lead Coastal Carolina to a 71-63 road win at Texas State Thursday night at the Strahan Arena in San Marcos, Texas.
 
The win was not only the first Sun Belt Conference victory of the season for CCU, it was the first win at Coastal Carolina for interim head coach Benny Moss.
 
Freeman, who was four-for-nine from the field and a perfect six-for-six at the free throw line, picked up some scoring help from Jimmy Nichols who finished with 11 points and Jacob Meyer who scored 10 as the Chants moved to 4-9 on the season and 1-1 in Sun Belt Conference action.
 
John Ojiako only scored six points, all in the second half, after picking up two quick fouls and missed over 17 minutes in the first half. He did finish with 11 rebounds.
 
Coming in for Ojiako was Jaland Whitehead who played 14 minutes in the game and grabbed a game and career-high 13 rebounds as the Chants outrebounded the Bobcats 46-34.
 
CCU shot 45.6 percent from the field (26-57) and 30.8 percent (4-13) on its three-point field goals. The Chants have struggled from the line this season, but that was not the case against Texas State as CCU hit 15 of its 19 free throw attempts for 78.9 percent.
 
CCU was especially tough at the line in the final minute with Freeman,  Blackmon, and Jon Sanders each hitting two free throws as the Chants made their final six free throws.
 
Coleton Benson came off the bench to score 15 points to the lead the Bobcats. He did not receive much scoring help as he was the only TSU player to reach double digits.
 
The Coastal defense held TSU to 33.8 percent (23-66) shooting from the field and 25.0 percent (5-20) from beyond the three-point line. The host Bobcats shot 70.6 percent (12-17) from the free throw line.
 
The Chants carried a 33-31 lead into the locker room at halftime led by nine points from Freeman and five each from Nichols, Blackmon, and Sanders.
 
Coastal will continue the road trip at Louisiana on Saturday, Jan. 6, at 8 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.