Conway, S.C. –Jordan Battle led five Coastal Carolina players in doubles figures with 16 points, but it wasn't quite enough as the Chanticleers lost to Georgia Southern in overtime, 88-87, in a Sun Belt conference game Thursday night at the HTC Center.
Coastal rallied from nine points down in the final two minutes of regulation and then grabbed the lead in overtime, at 78-77, before the Eagles made 7-of-10 free throws in the final two minutes to earn a win that lifted Georgia Southern to 9-9 overall and 2-4 in the league.
Bradley Douglas scored the last six points for Georgia Southern, including a couple of free throws with four second remaining that made the score 88-84 and put the game out of reach.
Rasheed Jones made a long three-pointer at the buzzer to close the scoring for Coastal, which slipped to 8-10 and 1-5. It was a thriller, with 20 lead changes and four ties.
"Don't feel sorry for us, that's part of this game," said a disappointed Coastal head coach
Justin Gray after the game. "The guys are a little hurt right now, but we'll get them ready for the next game. We are so close to getting one. This was a great basketball game."
Battle, who had 12 of his points in the first half, was supported by Jones, who had 15, and
Andre Mulibea, who had 14 coming off the bench.
Noah Amenhauser and
Denzel Hines, Coastal's front court starters, had 12 points apiece.
Georgia Southern held a modest lead throughout the second half until Amenhauser's dunk cut the Eagles' lead to just one, at 65-64, with 4:30 left. But, from there the visitors went on a 10-2 run to take a nine-point lead, at 74-65, with a bit more than two minutes left. It was their biggest lead of the game.
It looked to be over, but Coastal made a furious 10-1 run in the final two minutes to send the game into overtime. Hines made six points in the run, including the final four on a pair of free throws and a last second layup from the nifty assist by
Naz Brown. Georgia Southern helped the cause by missing the front end of three one-and-one free throw opportunities in the final two minutes of regulation.
The contest couldn't have been any closer in the first half. There were 14 lead changes, five ties, and neither team led by more than four points. Battle hit his first four three-point attempts and led all scorers with 12 points at the half. But a late layup by Eren Banks gave Georgia Southern a 35-33 lead at halftime.
Coastal finished the game shooting 49 percent from the field and 47 percent from behind the three-point line. Battle led the team with four makes from long range. However, the Chants went just 18-of-30 from the free throw line (60 percent), and just 1-of-3 in the last minute of overtime.
Coastal now has just a day off before playing Marshall at 4 p.m. Saturday as part of the women's-men's doubleheader at the HTC Center.
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.
