CONWAY, S.C. – Guards DeVante’ Jones and Keishawn Brewton each scored 17 points to pace Coastal Carolina in a dominating 93-64 win over Louisiana Monroe in a Sun Belt conference game Monday night at the HTC Center. It was the third win in the last four games for the Chanticleers, who improved to 10-6 overall and 3-2 in the league. ULM slipped to 6-8, 2-3.
Coastal led from start to finish and had six players in double figures for the second time this season. In addition to Jones and Brewton, Tyrell Gumbs-Frater had 14 points, Garrick Green had 13, Tommy Burton had 11 and Hosana Kitenge had 10. Jones also had 10 rebounds to achieve his fifth double-double of the season. He was two assists short of a triple-double finishing the game with eight assists.
After being off the mark from the outside in the last three games (shooting just 28 percent from three-point range), the Chanticleers hit for 11 three-pointers and made nearly 40 percent of their long-range shots. They also hit better than half of their shots overall (34-62), but the defensive effort was equally impressive.
“Defense is what allowed us to have some fun tonight,” said Coastal head coach Cliff Ellis. “We took the fight to them, and the defensive effort energized our team. Keishawn embraced the challenge of guarding their top scorer and really did a great job.”
Brewton played perhaps his best overall game. He held ULM junior guard Michael Ertel, who was coming off a 39-point performance against South Alabama, without a field goal in the first half. Ertel finished with 15 points, but 13 of those came in the second half after Coastal had built an insurmountable lead. ULM had three players hit for double figures in its losing effort, led by reserve guard Langston Powell, who had 18.
Brewton had five of his team’s first eight points, as Coastal jumped out to a 14-0- lead and never looked back. The flashy junior had 11 points at the break as the Chanticleers led, 42-28. From there, the Chanticleers stretched their lead to 32 points, lastly at 89-57, when Burton hit a short jumper with 3:30 left in the game.
Coastal was dominate on the glass, with a 44-23 rebounding edge. In addition to scoring in double figures, Green had nine rebounds and Kitenge had eight. The Chanticleers also allowed only one basket off an offensive rebound.
Coastal continues play in the conference with a pair of games in Texas this weekend. The Chanticleers will play Thursday at Texas State and Saturday at UT Arlington. The next home games for the Chants will be Jan. 16 and Jan. 18 against Little Rock and Arkansas State, respectively.
Courtesy – Coastal Carolina Athletics