ORANGEBURG, S.C. -- The Coastal Carolina men’s basketball team lost their fourth straight road game in a tough overtime game, falling to host South Carolina State, 81-80, Wed., Dec. 13. The Chanticleers drop to 3-4 on the season, while the Bulldogs picked up their second consecutive home win to advance to 2-6.

In the first half, scoring got off to a slow start with only 13 total points scored in the first five minutes. At the 11-minute mark, the Chanticleers went on a 10-2 run over the next two minutes to build a 23-16 lead, their largest of the contest. CCU kept the lead for the most of the half until SCSU’s Jason Flagler scored with a dunk off an offensive rebound with one second left giving the Bulldogs a one-point lead, 37-36, heading into the locker room.

The second half opened with a shift in momentum with the Chanticleers opening with a 7-0 run in the first 1:25 of the half for a 43-37 lead early on. However, the Bulldogs scrapped back and eventually built a 66-59 lead with 7:13 left in regulation. The lead was six at 73-67 with 2:46 to go, but Coastal scored the last six points of the half, including a long three-pointer from freshman Joshua Mack (Hopkinsvile, Ky./University Heights Academy) to send the contest into overtime.

To open the overtime period, Mack quickly scored a jumper from the top of the key to put the Chants on top 75-73. The teams traded baskets throughout the extra period, but fouls would end up to be trouble for the Chants. Senior Moses Sonko (East Greenwich, R.I./Classical) fouled out and his replacement, sophomore Matt Brennan, was called for a questionable foul with 4.1 seconds left and CCU leading 79-78. Derrick Davis hit both from the line and gave the Bulldogs the final 81-80 advantage.

The Chants were 31-of-60 (51.7 percent) from the field, while SCSU connected on 27-of-57 (47.4 percent) from the floor. A major difference was the charity stripe, as Coastal just went to the line 12 times, hitting seven of them, while SCSU was 25-of-36 from the free throw line.

Sonko led the team with 22 points and four rebounds, while Mack collected a career-high 19 points, 12 in the second half and seven in the overtime. Junior Jack Leasure (Rochester, N.Y./McQuaid Jesuit) also dropped in 19 points, hitting five from behind the three-point arc, and tied for game-high honors with eight rebounds.

Coastal will return home on Saturday, Dec. 16 when they take on Brevard at 2 p.m. at Kimbel Arena.