STATESBORO, Ga. — Behind a career-high 28 points from
Rasheed Jones and a dramatic equalizer from
Derrick Green, Coastal Carolina earned a 79-75 overtime victory at Georgia Southern on Saturday afternoon at the Jack and Ruth Ann Hill Convocation Center.
It was the Eagles' first home loss of the season and the Chanticleers' first win in Statesboro since 2022.
"We talked about how hard it is to win here," CCU Head Coach
Justin Gray said. "I tell our guys all the time; to be ready for the moment, you must have been doing the work before. We practiced the free throw miss yesterday. Coach Allison did a great job with prepping the guys on that.
"
Joshua Beadle went out and executed the perfect miss, and Derrick came up with the offensive rebound and putback. That gave us life and a chance in overtime."
Coastal (11-9, 4-4 Sun Belt) trailed 40-33 at the break and spent most of the day chasing the Eagles before forcing overtime in the final seconds. With Georgia Southern up 70-68 and three seconds left in regulation,
Joshua Beadle knocked down a free throw to cut it to one, then intentionally missed the second and Green corralled the offensive rebound and scored on a putback layup with one second remaining to tie the game at 70-70.
The Chanticleers carried that momentum into overtime. Beadle opened the extra period with a layup, and Coastal leaned on timely stops and free throws down the stretch.
AJ Dancler provided the decisive bucket with a jumper at the 1:33 mark to make it 76-74, and Jones sealed it at the line with two free throws in the final seconds.
Jones finished with 28 points on 8-of-14 shooting and went 10-of-11 at the foul line while adding eight rebounds. Dancler recorded a double-double with 20 points and 10 boards, and Beadle added 18 points. Green's stat line included the game-tying putback that forced overtime as one of his four offensive rebounds.
Georgia Southern (13-7, 5-2) was led by Tyren Moore's game-high 34 points. The Eagles took a 40-33 lead into halftime and stretched their lead to a nine-point advantage.
Coastal finished 31-of-38 at the stripe and won the rebounding battle 48-40, including 13 offensive rebounds. Georgia Southern shot 25-of-70 from the floor and 16-of-28 on free throws.
Coastal Carolina returns home to the HTC Center to take on Sun Belt opponent Texas State on Thursday, Jan. 22. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
POSTGAME NOTES
• Coastal posted its 11th win of the season, one more than last season's total.
• Coastal Carolina snapped a three-game losing streak to Georgia Southern, both overall and on the road, improving to 11-13 all-time against the Eagles and 5-6 in Statesboro.
• The Chants recorded their third straight win, their longest winning streak since winning three straight in March of 20222.
• Coastal Carolina has won four consecutive road games (ODU, St. Joe's, Marshall, Georgia Southern) for the first time since the 2015-16 season (High Point, Charleston Southern, Presbyterian, Radford).
• The Chanticleers are .500 or better through eight Sun Belt games for the first time since 2022-23 when they were also 4-4.
• Coastal's 31 made free throws were its most in a game since making 31 against Charleston Southern on Jan. 26, 2002.
• Jones (28), Dancler (20) and Beadle (18) combined for more than 60 points for the second straight game, totaling 66. They combined for 65 points in the win over Marshall.
• The Chanticleers rallied from a halftime deficit for the second time in three games. The trailed App State by six at home a week ago.
• Dancler recorded his third double-double of the season.
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