CCU

Men's Basketball Gets First Road Win, Defeats High Point 66-61

       

Men's Basketball Gets First Road Win, Defeats High Point 66-61

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HIGH POINT, N.C. -- Coastal Carolina's Jack Leasure knocked down eight three-pointers as part of his game-high 33 points to lead the Chanticleers to their first road win of the season, defeating High Point in Big South Conference actoin, 66-61, Jan. 19. With CCU's first road victory in seven attempts this year, the Chants advanced to 9-7 and 2-1 in Big South play, while the Panthers had their 10-game home winning streak snapped in falling to 8-8 and 1-2 in league action.             HPU scored the first six points of the game on jumpers by Cruz Daniels, Arizona Reid and Tim Burns. The Chants knotted it on threes by Leasure and junior guard Mario Sisinni to tie it at six with just under five minutes gone. The two teams exchanged leads before Coastal took the lead for good on back-to-back threes by Leasure to go up 19-15 with 7:53 to play in the first. After a layup cut the lead to two, Coastal closed the half on a 10-5 run to lead 29-22 at the intermission.             After the lead was cut to 29-24 on a second-half opening jumper by Reid, CCU utlilized a 1-3-1 zone defense and gradually built the lead to 20 points at 53-33 with 10:12 remaining in the first. High Point made a run in front of a raucous crowd, scoring the next 14 points in just 2:54, capped off by a three by Jefferson, to trim the lead to 53-47 with just over seven minutes to play in the game. A pair of free throws and a three-pointer by Leasure got the lead back to 11 at 60-49 and Coastal had a 12-point lead at 63-51 with 3:19 to go. The Panthers made one last push on two three-pointers and two layups to trim the margin to just two at 63-61 with 1:08 remaining. A Coastal turnover gave High Point a chance to take the lead but Tim Burns missed a three-pointer and Leasure grabbed the rebound. Guard Steven Sexton was fouled as CCU brought it up the floor and calmly hit both free throws to push it to 65-61 with 14.2 seconds remaining and seal the victory.             The Chanticleers hit 41.5 percent (22-of-53) from the field but an impressive 46.2 percent (12-of-26) from the three-point arc. High Point connected on 43.9 percent (25-of-57) from the floor but just 25.0 percent (7-of-28) from behind the three-point line. CCU was a solid 10-of-13 at the charity stripe as compared to 4-of-5 for High Point, while the Chants won the battle of the glass, 35-33, and limited the Panthers to just six offensive boards.             Leasure's 33 points were one off his career-high, while his eight three-pointers tied a season best and the third most in a single game at Coastal. Leasure also led the squad in rebounds with seven. Sisinni had 12 points on 4-of-5 three-pointers while also grabbing five boards, while Logan Johnson had 10 points, including a pair of big conventional three-point plays. Reid led High Point with his 12th double-double of the year with 25 points and 12 rebounds. David Campbell tallied 13 off the bench, while Eugene Harris had 11. Jefferson was held to just six points but had seven rebounds and nine assists.             The Chanticleers quickly return to the court when they head to Lynchburg, Va. to take on the Liberty Flames. Tip-off at the Vines Center is set for 7 p.m.