MOBILE, AL. (WBTW) –Tommy Burton and DeVante’ Jones collected double-doubles in leading Coastal Carolina to an 81-69 win at South Alabama to give Coastal Carolina its first Sun Belt Conference victory of the season.
Burton set career-highs in points with 19 and in rebounds with 12 in picking up his second double-double of the season.
Jones notched his fourth of the season with 15 points and a career-tying 12 rebounds. Jones also had a game-high six assists.
CCU (8-5 / 1-1 Sun Belt) finished the game shooting 47 percent from the field, but it was the team’s second half shooting of 57 percent (17-30) that saw CCU lead by as many as 19 (64-45) with just under seven minutes left to play.
Burton and Jones had plenty of help in the scoring column as all five starters reached double digits in the win. Tyrell Gumbs-Frater only took eight shots, but scored 13 points, including knocking down three-of-four on his three-point field goals.
Garrick Green finished the game with 11 points and eight rebounds. Isaac Hippolyte was inserted into the starting lineup and came through with a career-high 11 points, seven rebounds, and four assists.
The game was won on the glass where the Chants won the rebounding battle 53-32.
The Chants struggled at the free throw line only shooting 54 percent (14-26) from the line. Along those lines, Jones’ consecutive free throw streak came to an end. After hitting 25-straight charity tosses, Jones’ second free throw of the game missed its mark ending the steak. Jones has now hit 25 of his last 26 free throws and 30 of his last 32 dating back to the Delaware State game.
Chad Lott led a trio of Jags (6-6 / 0-2 Sun Belt) in double figures with 19. Don Coleman and Herb McGee each scored 12. Trhae Mitchell scored eight points but had a USA-high 10 rebounds to go with his five assists and three blocked shots.
Despite only shooting 38 percent from the field in the first half, CCU carried a 33-21 lead into the locker room. Gumbs-Frater led the way with seven points while Jones and Burton added six points each.
With the Chants holding a close 23-19 lead with 3:27 left in the opening 20 minutes, CCU went on a 9-2 run to end the half to push its lead out to double digits heading into the locker room.
The Chants grabbed 30 rebounds in the first half with Burton leading the way with nine. Green and Jones had four each.
The Chants defense held South Alabama to 20 percent shooting with Ajayi scoring seven and McGee adding six to lead the Jags in the opening half.
The Chants will take some time off for the holiday season and jump back into action Jan. 2 when they host Georgia Southern at 7 p.m.
Courtesy: Coastal Carolina Athletics