Chants Set Big South Record In Win At Charleston Southern

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Anthony Raffa scored a career-high 24 points Saturday.

Feb. 26, 2011

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Anthony Raffa scored a career-high 24 points and Coastal Carolina set a school and league record with its 16th Big South Conference win on its way to a 81-77 victory over Charleston Southern Saturday afternoon from the CSU Field House.

Coastal Carolina (26-4, 16-2) improved to a perfect 9-0 on the road in conference this season and became just the second team in Big South history to accomplish that feat.

Chad Gray finished with 21 points and seven rebounds, and Dexter Moore added 13 points and hit four 3-pointers. Sam McLaurin chipped in with eight points and 11 rebounds to help the Chants hold a 38-33 edge on the glass.

Jamarco Warren scored a game-high 30 points to lead a trio of Buccaneers in double figures. Kelvin Martin added 16 points and five rebounds, while Jeremy Sexton finished with 11 points and four assists.

Coastal Carolina led 66-52 with 6:45 left on a layup from Raffa, but Charleston Southern responded with an 16-6 run to pull within four points with 1:16 left on a pair of free throws from Warren.

The Chanticleers, however, went 9-for-10 from the free throw line over the final 1:14 and Coastal finished the game 19-for-22 from the stripe and handed the Buccaneers just their second home loss in conference play this season.

Martin gave Charleston Southern its first lead of the opening half with back-to-back layups to push the Buccaneers ahead 8-7 at the 13:57 mark. The Chants answered with a 16-0 run over the next 3:53, which included nine points from Raffa, to open up a 23-8 lead midway through the half.

Back-to-back three-pointers from Warren pulled Charleston Southern to within nine points at 23-14, but Coastal Carolina used a 13-5 run thereafter to build its biggest lead of the half at 17 points. Warren scored four points in the final minute to leave the Buccaneers trailing by 12 at halftime.

Coastal Carolina shot 58.1 percent (18-for-31) in the first half and scored eight points off six Charleston Southern turnovers.

Coastal Carolina returns to action Tuesday night at 7 p.m. when the top-seeded Chanticleers host No. 8 seed Gardner-Webb in the first round of the Big South Tournament from Kimbel Arena.