JONESBORO, Ark. ---- Coastal Carolina men's basketball dropped its Sun Belt Conference opener on Saturday afternoon with a 97-67 loss to Arkansas State inside First National Bank Arena.
 
With the result, Coastal moved to 6-6 (0-1 SBC) on the season while ASU improved to 10-3 (1-0).
 
The Chanticleers led, 4-0, less than 3 minutes into the contest before Arkansas State took a 53-22 lead into halftime.
 
Following the halftime break, the two conference foes traded baskets evenly the final 20 minutes of action as Coastal held a 45-44 advantage in the second half.  
 
Colin Granger led the way for the Chants, scoring 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting with 10 rebounds for his double-double of the season. Jordan Battle added 20 points while Denzel Hines posted 13 points and 10 rebounds to earn his second consecutive double-double.
 
Arkansas State's Josh Hill led all scorers with 26 points thanks in large part to 6-of-12 performance from behind the arc.  
 
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.