CCU

Coastal Plays VMI in Quarterfinals of Big South Tournament

Tipoff Set for 12:00 p.m. Wednesday in Asheville

       

Second-Team All-Conference Selection Anthony Raffa

Second-Team All-Conference Selection Anthony Raffa

Feb. 28, 2012

Coastal Carolina (19-10, 12-6 Big South) vs. VMI (15-15, 8-10 Big South)
Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012 | 12 p.m. | Asheville, N.C. | Kimmel Arena (3,200)

Coastal Carolina Game Notes Get Acrobat Reader

MEDIA
TV:  None
RADIO: The Coastal Carolina - VMI game will be broadcast live online at GoCCUSports.com or WJXY The Team (93.9 FM) with Matt Hogue on the call.
LIVE STATS: Available via uncabulldogs.com
VIDEO STREAM: Available via BigSouthSports.com
TICKET INFORMATION: Tickets are available by calling the Kimmel Arena Ticket office Monday-Friday 9:00 am – 4:30 pm at 828.251.6904 or by visiting uncabulldogs.com

Quarterfinals
Adult Sideline - $15
Adult Baseline - $10
Student and Youth - $5
2 and under are free
(student and youth means college students with id all the way down to 3 years old are $5; Coastal students need to mention they are students to get the $5 ticket)

 QUICK NOTES

  • As of games played through Sunday, Coastal ranked 13th in field goal percentage (48.7%) and 19th in rebounding margin (+6.3) in the NCAA.
  • With a win on Wednesday against VMI Cliff Ellis will have recorded 100 or more wins at four different  Division I programs... This feat has only been accomplished by Lefty Driesell (5 Schools).
  • Coastal recorded its worst field goal percentage this year (35.7%) against Liberty (2/23)... The previous low was 36.4 percent at East Carolina.
  • Coastal shot 7-of-13 (53.8%)from beyond the arc against the Flames (2/23), the best three-point percentage of the year.
  • Coastal was the first team in the Big South to lose a conference game at home, falling 81-75 against Campbell.
  • Kierre Greenwood recorded 10 assists against GWU (1/28), which ties for the 10th most posted in a single game in Coastal history... With six assists against VMI (2/25) Greenwood moved into seventh place in Coastal history with 351 career assists.
  • With a win over Charleston Southern the Chants have now recorded their third-straight season with 10 or more Big South wins for the first time in school history.
  • Chris Gradnigo scored a season-high 24 points against CSU while adding seven rebounds, three blocks and three steals.... Gradnigo recorded his first double-double against Asheville with a season-high 13 rebounds... He has scored double-figures in 25-of-29 game this year.
  • Coastal was swept in a season series for the first time since the 2008-09 after falling to Campbell (2/7) at home.
  • Anthony Raffa set a career-high with 32 points at Gardner-Webb (1/28)... Raffa scored 14 straight points for the Chants, overcoming a nine-point second half deficit to defeat the Runnin' Bulldogs 70-56.
  • Raffa eclipsed the 1,000 career point mark after scoring a team-high 19 points against Presbyterian Jan. 26. Raffa has recorded double figures in 24 of his 29 games played this season.

COASTAL IN THE BIG SOUTH TOURNAMENT

Coastal holds a 14-21 all-time record in the Big South Tournament dating back to the 1985-86 season... The Chanticleers have won the tournament three times but not since 1993... Coastal also won the tournament in '90 and '91... Last season the top-seeded Chanticleers lost to the No. 3 seed UNC Asheville in the Championship game.

ABOUT VMI

VMI is coming off a 55-53 win over Radford in the first round of the Big South Tournament... The Keydets finished the season with an 8-10 conference record and are currently 15-15 on the season.... They are led by Keith Gabriel who ranks second in the BSC with 17.8 points per game... Stan Okoye averages 17.7 ppg while leading the team with 7.2 rebounds a game.... VMI has lost the last eight game played against CCU.

THE SERIES

According to the Coastal Carolina record books the Chanticleers hold a 16-5 advantage in the all-time series... Coastal has won the last eight games in the series including a pair of wins this year...... The last loss was during the 2008-09 season when the Chants lost at Cameron Hall 96-76... Coastal last played VMI in the Big South Tournament during the 2010 season, defeating the Keydets 82-73 in the quarterfinals played in Conway.

TWO CHANTS NAMED ALL-BIG SOUTH

Chris Gradnigo and Anthony Raffa have been named Big South Second-Team All-Conference announced by the league office Sunday. Sam McLaurin was named to the All-Academic team for the second consecutive year.

Raffa finished the regular season averaging 16.9 points per game to rank sixth in the Big South and 1.93 steals per game (third in BSC). The Sea Isle City, N.J., native scored 20 or more points on 10 separate occasions, including a career-high 32 points in a come from behind win against Gardner-Webb. The junior also posted double-figures in 24 of the 29 games this year. Raffa also reached the 1,000 point career feat including his one year played at Albany University.

Gradnigo averaged 15.1 points and 6.4 rebounds for the Chanticleer offense posting 25 double-figure scoring performances and one double-double.The senior from Lake Charles, La., ranked 12th in the Big South in points scored, tied for 13th in rebounds and 11th in the league in blocks per game (0.86)

McLaurin broke the Coastal Carolina career record for blocked shots (154) earlier this season and finished the year fourth in the league with 1.21 blocks per game. The Havana, Fla., native averaged 9.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game for the No. 2 seed Chanticleers. The junior communication major carries a 3.48 GPA and was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team earlier this year. All first-team Academic All-District honorees advance to the Capital One Academic All-American Team ballot. 

LAST TIME OUT

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Coastal Carolina 81, VMI 64

LEXINGTON, Va. - Anthony Raffa scored a game-high 26 points as Coastal Carolina won its final regular season game 81-64 Saturday afternoon at Cameron Hall.

The Chanticleers (19-10, 12-6) used points from 10 different players to help defeat the Keydets (14-15, 8-10) for only their second home loss of the year.

VMI was held to its lowest shooting percentage of the year finishing 20-of-72 (27.8%) from the field including a 6-of-33 mark from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, Coastal shot 52.6 percent from the field (30-of-57) and made 6-of-9 from beyond the arc.

Leading by two at the half, Coastal went on a 10-3 run to open the second period, building a nine-point advantage four minutes into the half. Coastal would extend its lead to 12, but it was short-lived as VMI would pull within five on a 7-0 run to put the score at the 56-51 with 10 minutes remaining. Coastal bounced back and finished the game on a 25-13 run for its fifth conference road win on the year.

The Chanticleers overcame an early six-point deficit to take their second lead of the game 19-18 with just under nine minutes to play in the first half. VMI regained the lead temporarily on a pair of free throws with 20 seconds remaining in the first half. Coastal followed with a 3-pointer from Raffa, who scored 12 of his 26 points before the half to take a 36-34 lead into the break.

The first half saw eight different lead changes and the score was tied seven times. Coastal's largest lead was five points while VMI had a six-point lead at the midway point of the first half.

Chris Gradnigo added 16 points and had a team-high nine rebounds. Kierre Greenwood added to his defensive resume holding the Keydets' leading scorer Kieth Gabriel to 2-of-16 from the field.