CONWAY, S.C. – Sophomore Amidou Bamba came off the bench to score a career-high 18 points in leading Coastal Carolina to a 72-62 win over Little Rock.
It was a well-balanced attack by the Chanticleers as eight of the nine players that got in the game wound up in the points’ column. Like Bamba, Ajay Sanders came off the bench and scored 11 points, hitting all three of his three point field goals.
Jaylen Shaw continued his run of having solid all-around games. He scored 13 points and once again, he finished with a game-high eight assists while only committing one turnover.
Little Rock (5-17, 2-7 SBC) led 42-41 after a Cameron Corcoran three point field goal with 13:35 left in the game. From there the Chanticleers went on a 16-5 run over the next six minutes to open up a 57-47 lead with 7:32 left in the game, and went on to lead by as many as 15 before settling in for the 10-point victory.
CCU (10-13, 4-6 SBC) has been looking to get the ball inside over the past four games and the shooting percentages have shown. In today’s game CCU shot 50 percent (24-48) from the field, and outscored the visitors 34-16 in the paint.
CCU only took nine three point field goal shots, hitting six (67%). For the second consecutive game, the Chants struggled at the free throw line only shooting 62.1 percent (18-29).
Led by Demario Beck’s seven rebounds and Artur Labinowicz’ six, the Chants out rebounded Little Rock 37-29.
LR came into the game averaging 6.3 three pointers per game, but kept the game as close as they did by knocking down 12, hitting 40 percent of the three’s they took.
Overall, the Trojans shot 38 percent from the field with two players reaching double digits. Ryan Pippins hit five three’s and finished the game with 15 points. Andre Jones scored 12 to joint Pippins in double digits.
The two teams went into the locker room even at 35 after a half which saw both teams shoot the ball well.
LR came into the game only shooting 40 percent from the field, but shot 50 percent in the opening half. The visitors also came into the game hitting six three point field goals per game, but hit seven in the first half.
Pippins had nine points and Cameron Reedus came off the bench to score six.
Bamba tied his career high with 14 points in the opening 20 minutes to lead CCU on offense. Labinowicz knocked down a couple of three balls as CCU shot 48 percent in the first half.
CCU will hit the road to start the second half of the Sun Belt Conference schedule. The two road games will have CCU traveling to Texas to face Texas State in San Marcos Thursday, Feb. 1 at 8:30 p.m. CCU will then travel up to Arlington to face Texas-Arlington Saturday, Feb. 3 at 5:30 p.m. The game is scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN3.