Conway, S.C. – Jordan Battle scored season-high 18 points and Joshua Meo added 16 as Coastal Carolina built a 30-point lead and coasted to an 82-57 win over Southern Virginia in a non-conference contest Wednesday night at the HTC Center.
 
Battle and Meo were supported by Andre Mulibea, who had 13 points, and RaSheed Jones, who added 12 points for Coastal Carolina, which improved to 5-5 on the season. Southern Virginia was led by Eli Ballstaedt, who had 15 points.
 
"When you get a big lead, like we did, it's hard to focus. You just go through the motions, and you think good things are just going to happen," said Coastal head coach Justin Gray, who is in his first season. "We didn't have the same effort in the second half. But I'm proud of my guys. We won the game."
 
Coastal wasted little time in taking the upper hand. Denzel Hines tallied five consecutive points to ignite a 20-4 run that left the home team with a decisive 34-11 advantage. Noah Amenhauser, Coastal's 7'2" sophomore center, put the finishing touches on the run with a couple of free throws and a dunk.
 
Battle and Jones added three-pointers, as Coastal made seven of its first eight attempts from long range. Meo added a driving layup that gave Coastal a 30-point advantage that would be its biggest lead of the contest, at 47-17. Meo already had a season-high 14 points at the half, where CCU lead by 54-30. The 6'4" junior guard was 5-of-6 from the field, including 2-of-2 from beyond the arc.
 
Southern Virginia rallied to start the second half, going on an 8-0 run to trim the Coastal lead to 19, at 61-42. Coastal then put together runs of 6-0 and 8-0 to win going away.
 
The Chants had nine players score points and shot a respectable 26-of-54 (48 percent) from the field and 11-of-25 (44 percent) from beyond the three-point stripe, after starting the game a torrid 10-of-13 from long range. Coastal also was a solid 19-of-24 (79 percent) from the free throw line. 
 
The rebounding totals were nearly even, at 33-32 in favor of Coastal. Reserve center Mabor Majek led the Chants with six rebounds, while three others had five apiece. 
 
Coastal will now travel to play at North Carolina A&T (Dec. 17) and at Arkansas State (Dec. 21) before returning to the HTC Center to host Warner at 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 29 as part of a women's and men's basketball doubleheader. 
 
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.