Conway, S.C. – Junior guard Kylan Blackmon scored a career high 31 points to lead three players in double figures as Coastal Carolina earned an 82-75 win over Georgia Southern in a Sun Belt basketball game Thursday night at the HTC Center.
 
Coastal led from mid-way in the first half and built an 18-point lead before withstanding a Georgia Southern rally that cut the lead to five, at 59-54, with eight minutes remaining. From there, the Chants converted 14-of-17 free throws in the final five minutes to improve to 7-17 overall and 4-9 in the conference.
 
Blackmon, whose previous career high was 23 points, was supported by guards Jacob Meyer, who had 16 points, and Henry Abraham, who came off the bench for a season-high 10 points.
 
"The guys did a great job. They had a different level of intensity," said a pleased Coastal interim head coach Benny Moss. "Kylan Blackmon was phenomenal tonight. He put us on his back. He scored from the outside, but he also drove to the basket and got to the free throw line. And he guarded Georgia Southern's top score in (Tyren) Moore and held him to 4-of-18 from the field."
 
Moore finished with just nine points, well below his season's average of 15 points per game. Erin Banks led Georgia Southern with 21 points, but the Panthers suffered their fifth consecutive loss and fell to 5-21 overall and 5-8 in the league. Georgia Southern had won the first meeting of the season, 73-70, in Statesboro, Ga.
 
Blackmon, a 6'3" 208-pounder from Oxford, Mississippi, was 11-of-14 from the field and 6-of-8 from behind the three-point line. His last three-pointer came with five minutes left, and it was Coastal's last field goal of the game. But the Chants closed the game by making 14-of-17 free throws, including 5-of-5 from 6'11" freshman forward Braeden MacVicar. Sophomore forward Ian Granja also sank 3-of-4 in the final minute.
 
As a team, Coastal made and attempted its most free throws on the season, hitting 24-of-38 overall. Kevin Easley had seven of his nine points from the free throw line, including a pair to close CCU's scoring and seal the win.
 
The Chants also had a slight rebounding advantage, 39-36, despite big John Ojiako getting in foul trouble and finishing with just six points and six rebounds. MacVicar plugged the gap with a season-high 10 rebounds, while Easley had eight.
 
In the early going, neither team led by more than five points until Blackmon had a scoring run all his own. He scored eight straight points to give his team a 38-31 lead, and then added a three-pointer to put the Chants in front, 38-23, their biggest advantage of the first half. But Georgia Southern closed with a 7-1 run to make it 39-30 at the break.
 
Blackmon already had 16 points in the first half and made four of his five three-point attempts. Banks had 12 points to lead Georgia Southern and made all five of his field goal attempts.
 
But Blackmon wasn't even close to being done. He scored seven in a 9-0 run by the Chants that put them in front, 48-32, just three minutes into the second half. A free throw by Meyer gave the Chants their biggest lead of the game, at 58-40 with 12 minutes remaining. From there, Georgia Southern recovered with a 14-1 run to make it 59-54. However, that was a close as the Panthers could get the rest of the way.
 
Coastal has a short turn-around before hosting Marshall at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday afternoon. Following that game, Coastal has just two more home games remaining on the schedule – Feb. 28 against Arkansas State and March 1 against James Madison.
 
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.