The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers men's basketball team survived on the road for a 52-49 victory over the Presbyterian Blue Hose at the Templeton Center in Clinton, South Carolina on Thursday night.
Coastal Carolina was held without a field goal over the final 8:28 of the contest. But the Chants hit key free throws down the stretch to escape with a victory.
Junior guard Anthony Raffa led CCU with 19 points and eight rebounds. Raffa sank 10 of 11 free throws. Raffa has now scored more than 1,000 points in his college career. Sam McLaurin was solid in the paint. He scored a dozen points and hauled down eight rebounds.
Coastal outrebounded the Blue Hose 33-22 during the low scoring affair. Two of CCU's top players, Chris Gradnigo and McLaurin got into first half foul trouble. The Chants got only eight bench points and hit only two 3-point field goals. But CCU held PC to only 34 percent shooting from the field.
CCU's win over PC moved the Chanticleers into second place alone in the Big South Conference standings after Gardner-Webb knocked off Campbell 78-72. UNC-Asheville continues to lead the Big South with a 10-1 conference slate following a 90-70 victory over High Point, behind 30 points from J.P. Primm.
Coastal Carolina improved to 15-5 overall and 8-2 in the Big South Conference. CCU continues on the road to play Gardner-Webb at Boiling Springs, North Carolina on Saturday, January 28 at 7pm.
Coming up on Sunday at noon on WPDE NewsChannel 15, Sports Director Rich Chrampanis and Coastal Carolina head coach Cliff Ellis will have a break down on both the Presbyterian and Gardner-Webb games on The Cliff Ellis Show.
