Conway, SC – Jaylen Shaw tied his career-high with a 26-point effort in leading Coastal Carolina to a 90-65 win over Texas Arlington to kick off the Sun Belt Conference portion of the schedule.
Shaw had a couple of off games, but the senior hit eight of his 12 field goals and was two-of-three on three point field goals and hit eight of his 10 free throws. He also had a game-high seven assists and six rebounds to round out his effort.
Shaw was not the only double-digit scorer for the Chants. Artur Labinowicz started his first game of the season and finished with 15 points and six rebounds.
Amidou Bamba also came in with a career-night scoring 14 points on six-of-seven shooting. Demario Beck came up one rebound short of recording a double-double, finishing with 13 points and nine rebounds.
Another career-night game from Christian Adams who not only set a career-high, but also reached double-digits for the first time in his career with 10 points.
CCU finished the night shooting 50 percent from the field and hit 11 three point field goals on their way to shooting 42 percent on its threes. CCU also did well at the free throw line knocking down 21 of 26 for 81 percent.
The Chanticleers defense held the Sun Belt’s leading scorer, Kevin Hervey, to seven points on three of 11 shooting. He came into the game averaging over 23 points per game.
UTA’s second leading scorer, Erick Neal, also only scored seven points, entering the game averaging 13 points per game and nine assists. He finished with six assists.
Kaelon Wilson was UTA’s leading scorer tonight with 17 points and Johnny Hamilton added 13.
After several close losses the 26-point difference was the largest of the season, and CCU and UTA were tied for 26 seconds of the game with CCU holding the lead for the rest of the time.
CCU out rebounded UTA 41-34 and 14 of those were offensive rebounds, which led to 19 second-chance points. CCU’s bench held a big advantage over UTA 45-13 and also scored 17 points off UTA turnovers.
The first half saw the Chanticleers hit five of its last six field goals to carry a 42-31 lead into the locker room.
Labinowicz, who scored CCU’s first seven points, led the way with 11 first half points. Shaw hit a bucket at the horn and had seven first half points.
CCU finished the half shooting 48 percent from the field and out rebounded the taller visitors 24-15.
Wilson had 11 points for UTA to lead the Mavericks in first half scoring. Hamilton added seven and Hawkins scored six.
UTA shot 38 percent from the field and only hit two of its nine three point field goals.
CCU will end the current five-game home stand Sunday, Dec. 31, when they host Texas State. The game is set to begin at 3:30 p.m.
