In the first round of the 2006 Advance Auto Parts Big South Conference Championship, second-seeded Coastal Carolina (19-9) outlasted the visiting seventh-seeded UNC Asheville (9-19) 78-62 on Tuesday, Feb. 28 at Kimbel Arena. The Chanticleers advance to the semifinals to face sixth-seeded Charleston Southern at the Winthrop Coliseum on Thursday, Mar. 2 at 9 p.m. on ESPNU. Coastal picked up its 11th consecutive win, the fourth-longest current winning streak in Division I.

An early 9-5 run from UNC Asheville capped off by a made three pointer from senior Oliver Holmes put UNCA up 12-7 at 15:46.

The Chants grabbed its first lead of the evening, 17-14, on a layup and free throw from junior Moses Sonko at 13:35.

A three by the Chants’ Jack Leasure allowed Coastal to open up the largest lead of the first half at 29-23, but again the Bulldogs would have an answer. A layup and free throw by UNCA’s Joe Barber closed the gap to one at 29-28 with 8:33 remaining in the first half. For the rest of the half, neither team was able to open up more than a three-point advantage.

Redshirt sophomore Garrett Moles gave the Bulldogs the lead at the break at 42-40 on a running layup.

Asheville was 14-for-28 in the first half. Barber had 14 points while senior Chad Mohn led both teams with six rebounds. For Coastal, Leasure had 12 points as Coastal shot 12-for-28 (43 percent) in the opening half.

A three pointer from Coastal’s Steven Sexton allowed the Chants to open up a four point advantage 47-43 at 14:26 of the second half. But the Bulldogs fought back as a layup from Mohn gave UNCA the 50-49 advantage with 12:04 remaining in the game.

Two free throws from Asheville’s Holmes gave the Bulldogs a 51-49 advantage at 11:30, but it would be the last lead the Bulldogs would have the rest of the evening.

A three from Leasure gave CCU its largest lead, to that point of the second half, at 66-59 with 3:12 remaining in the game. The Chants’ Paelay followed with a thunderous dunk to give CCU a 68-59 lead with 2:14 remaining.

UNC Asheville was never able to close the gap in the second half as Coastal ended the game on a 10-1 run to win going away 78-62.

For the game, Coastal shot 43.6 percent (24-for-55) but were an impressive 23-26 (.885) from the charity stripe. After shooting 50 percent in the first half, the Bulldogs were limited to 28 percent shooting in the second half (7-for-25) and ended up shooting 39.6 percent for the game (21-for-53).

Leasure led the way for Coastal with 17. He was one of five Chants to reach double figures. Senior Pele Paelay had 15 points and pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds for his second consecutive double-double. Coastal senior point guard Colin Stevens had 14 points and four assists for CCU in the victory. UNC Asheville was led by senior Joe Barber, who had 17 point and seven rebounds in defeat. He was one of three Bulldogs to reach double figures. Chad Mohn and Omar Collington each chipped in 10 points for UNCA.

Post Game Quotes:

Coastal Head Coach Buzz Peterson: "We really buckled down defensively in the second half. We were really hoping to wear them out and that is what we did in the last 20 minutes of the game."

UNC Asheville head coach Eddie Biedenbach : "Our guys gave their best effort. I really appreciate what our seniors meant to this program, we just didn’t play as well as we could of today. Credit should go to Coastal, they’ve really done a great job turning this program around this season."