Conway, S.C. – Noah Amenhauser and Rasheed Jones combined for 25 points and Coastal Carolina pulled out to a 23-point lead in the second half and cruised to a 70-51 win over ULM in a Sun Belt conference game Saturday afternoon at the HTC Center.
 
Amenhauser, Coastal's 7'2" center, had 11 of his 13 points in the first half, while Jones, the team's leading scorer, hit for 12 points. Jordan Battle and Naz Brown each added nine points as Coastal improved to 8-7 overall and 1-2 in Sun Belt play. Henry Abraham also had a noteworthy effort in a reserve guard role, with seven points and six rebounds, to go along with two assists, in 17 minutes of action.
 
Jerry Ngopot and Coltie Young each scored 14 points for ULM, which slipped to 4-12 overall and 0-3 in league play.
 
"We celebrated Henry in the locker room today," said Coastal head coach Justin Gray. "He brings the energy and he's our captain. We were ready to go today. We gave them the shots we wanted to give them, and everyone rebounded today. We are happy to get our first league win."
 
Coastal wasted little time in putting together a 12-0 scoring run to take a 14-3 lead just five minutes into the game. Jones had five points in the run, while Amenhauser had four. But the Warhawks countered with a 12-0 run of their own to regain a 15-14 lead.
 
It stayed close until Coastal closed the first half with a 13-2 run and held a 34-22 advantage at the break, its largest lead of the half. Jones again was involved, with a three-point bucket and two assists.  Amenhauser had 11 points at in the first half, while Jones had eight.
 
And when Battle joined the scoring parade early in the second half, Coastal was off and running. Battle hit seven of the Chants' first 11 points to lift the Coastal lead to 45-27. A few minutes later, Brown hit a pair of free throws and Abraham canned a three-pointer to give Coastal a 23-point lead at 54-31. It was the Chants' largest lead of the game.
 
Amenhauser, who played just 18 minutes, was a perfect 5-of-5 from the field, helping Coastal to finish 24-of-53 for the game (45 percent). Coastal also had its best game from the free throw line, making 15-of-18 (83 percent).  The Chants also owned the boards, with a commanding 43-26 edge. Denzel Hines and Jones each had seven rebounds to lead Coastal.
 
Coastal will now play two away conference games next week before coming back for home games against Georgia Southern at 7 p.m. Jan. 16 (Thursday), and Marshall at 3:30 p.m. Jan. 18 (Saturday).
 
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