Coastal Carolina gets fifth straight win

Coastal Carolina’s men’s basketball team defeated the University of Louisiana-Lafayette by a final score of 96-79 on Saturday at the HTC Center to extend their win streak to five straight games while pulling into third place in the Sun Belt.

Senior forward Zac Cuthbertson led the Chanticleers with 24 points as he also grabbed 9 rebounds on 6-11 shooting. Both freshman Ebrima Dibba and Devante Jones added 16 points each. Dibba dropped 10 assists while Jones grabbed nine rebounds.

Joining those three Chanticleers in double-digit scoring were Tyrell Gumbs-Frater (15 points) and Tommy Burton (13 pints).

For the Rajin Cajuns, Jakeenan Grant raced up a double-double with his game-high 27 points and added 12 rebounds.

The Chanticleers bested the Rajin’ Cajuns in overall shooting percentage (58 percent to 43 percent), three-point shooting (57 percent to 25 percent), and free-throw shooting (65 percent to 64 percent).

Coastal Carolina took a six-point lead into the half, and outscored ULL 52-41 in the second half en route to their 17-point victory.

Coastal now sits in third-place in the Sun Belt Conference standings after starting conference play at 1-3. The team now has a chance during a three-game road trip to extend their winning streak and defeat the Texas teams in UT-Arlington and Texas State, that swept them back in the beginning of January.

CCU begins a three-game road trip on Thursday, Feb. 7 as they take on Texas Arlington, tip-off is at 8 p.m.

The Chanticleers then travel to take on second-place Texas State in San Marcos, Texas on Saturday, Feb. 9 before coming back to Carolinas for a matchup with Appalachian State in Boone, North Carolina on Saturday, Feb. 16.

Coastal Carolina returns home to face Georgia Southern on Thursday, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. at the HTC Center. If the Chanticleers can keep up their winning ways, it would be a battle for first place in the Sun Belt on Saturday, Feb. 23 as the Chanticleers take on the top team in the Sun Belt in Georgia State.