CCU

Chants Coast Past VMI For 20th Straight Win

       

Chad Gray had 22 points and five rebounds Saturday against VMI.

Chad Gray had 22 points and five rebounds Saturday against VMI.

Feb. 5, 2011

Box Score

CONWAY, S.C. - Four Chanticleers scored in double figures and Coastal Carolina won its 20th straight game following a 99-86 win over VMI Saturday afternoon from Kimbel Arena. 

Desmond Holloway turned in his third double-double of the season and finished with 22 points and a career-high 15 rebounds.  The Indianapolis, Ind., native was also 10-for-12 from the charity stripe line and set a new career-high in free throws made. 

Chad Gray added 22 points and five rebounds, while Danny Nieman scored a season-high 20 points to go along with six assists and a career-high four three-pointers. 

Sam McLaurin finished with 11 points and a career-high 13 rebounds to register his third double-double of the season and help the Chants hold a 54-40 edge in rebounding.  Kierre Greenwood recorded a game-high eight assists for the Chants, who own the second-longest winning streak in the NCAA. 

Coastal Carolina (22-2, 13-0) won its 17th straight Big South Conference game and owns the second-longest league winning streak in conference history.  The win also clinched a home game in the opening round of the Big South Tournament in March. 

Keith Gabriel led VMI with 21 points and was 6-for-9 from three-point range.  Austin Kenon and Ron Burks finished with 18 and 16 points, respectively. 

Coastal led 24-10 midway through the first half, but an 8-0 run by VMI that included back-to-back three pointers from Gabriel, pulled the Keydets to within six points at the 9:29 mark.  The Chanticleers, however, answered with a 14-0 lead of their own to take a 38-18 lead with just over five minutes before halftime. 

Gabriel cut the Chanticleer lead to 12 points with a three-pointer minutes before the half, but Coastal used a 10-3 run over the final 1:35 to take a 53-34 advantage into intermission. 

VMI (12-11, 5-8) came into Saturday as the nation's highest-scoring team, averaging 91.5 points per game. But the Keydets shot 33.3 percent from the floor in the opening half (12-of-36) en route to a 53-34 halftime deficit.

Coastal scored the first three baskets of the second half and pushed its lead to 25 points at 59-34 before D.J. Covington hit a free throw to hault the scoring draught. 

Holloway gave the Chants a 86-65 lead with a pair of free throws with just under four minutes left in the game, but the Keydets used a 14-4 run over the next 1:48 to cut the deficit to 11 points. 

VMI appeared to be in position for another defensive stop, but Nieman just beat the shot clock horn and nailed his fourth three-pointer of the day to up the Coastal lead to 14 points. 

Coastal returns to action Thursday at 7 p.m. when the Chants travel to Clinton, S.C., to take on Presbyterian from the Templeton Center.