Conway, S.C. – Noah Amenhauser and Denzel Hines scored 11 points each, but the Chants fell to a hot-shooting Jacksonville State team 71-53 Sunday afternoon at the HTC Center.
 
The Chants, who slipped to 1-3 on the young season, also saw Joshua Meo add 10 points for CCU, while the Chants' leading scorer, Rasheed Jones, who had hit for at least 15 points in each of the first three games, was held to just seven points. Amenhauser got nine of his points in the second half. He also had a team-high eight rebounds.
 
Jason Pierre scored 31 points on 11-of-19 shooting in 37 minutes of action. He got scoring help from Koree Cotton, who had 13 points as JSU moved to 3-1 on the season.
 
"Pierre is a pro," quipped Coastal head coach Justin Gray. "They were ready to play. They dominated the game from beginning to end. This is not the effort we want. And that's on me. We have to respond when things don't go our way. And we will."
 
With the game even at 11, the Gamecocks scored 20 consecutive points with Pierre scoring 11 of those points that put the Gamecocks on top by 31-11. The Chants suffered through an 0-10 shooting drought during  the JSU run and Pierre had 18 points at the break, where the visitors led by a 38-21 margin.
 
Coastal trimmed the margin to 14, at 42-28, on back-to-back dunks by Amenhauser four minutes into the second half. But the comeback stalled as Pierre made consecutive baskets to build the Gamecocks' lead back to 50-32 with 12 minutes remaining.
 
Coastal closed the game by outscoring Jacksonville State 15-5 in the final four minutes. Both teams took good care of the basketball, with Coastal making just five turnovers, while JSU had just three.
 
Coastal will move forward to play two away games at the Alabama A&M Bulldog Bash, facing IU Indianapolis on Nov. 22 and Alabama A&M on Nov. 23, before returning home to host USC Upstate at 2 p.m. (ET) Nov. 30.
 
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.