ATLANTA — It was a tale of two halves Saturday inside the GSU Convocation Center as Coastal Carolina men's basketball fell to Georgia State in Sun Belt Conference action by a 79-74 margin. 

Coastal (8-9, 1-4) opened the game with one of its best 20-minute stints of the season, leading 44-31 after knocking down 10 first-half triples. 

Georgia State (7-10, 3-2) flipped the script in the second half, using a 28-14 run over 11 minutes to take a 59-58 lead with nine minutes to go. 

From there it was a see-saw battle down the stretch with the Panthers shooting almost 60 percent (.567) from the floor and the Chanticleers missing all seven of their second-stanza shots from behind the arc. 

A driving layup by Denzel Hines with 1:40 left pulled CCU within two at 72-70 but the Panthers' Cesare Edwards answered with a jumper of his own. Coastal did not convert its next possession and GSU's Malachi Brown hit a dagger three with 35 seconds left to put the game out of reach at 77-70. 

The Chants hit the final four points of the game, leading to the final five-point deficit. 

Rasheed Jones led the way with 18 points on the strength of five threes in the opening half. Battle finished with 15 and Josh Meo had 10 points and seven assists. Noah Amenhauser rung up a double-double with 13 points and 11 boards. Naz Brown dished out six assists and had four steals. 

GSU's Zarique Nutter topped all participants with 23 points and three assists. Edwards finished with 15 and nine boards while Toneari Lane poured in 19 with six rebounds. 

UP NEXT
Coastal returns to HTC center to face Georgia Southern on Thursday and Marshall on Saturday. Action tips off at 7 and 3:30 p.m. ET, respectively, with coverage on ESPN+ and the Chanticleer Sports Network. 

FOLLOW THE CHANTS
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.