Coastal Carolina loses against Tennessee Tech in BracketBusters

CONWAY -- Coastal Carolina and Tennessee Tech battled back and forth Saturday.

Until the Golden Eagles hit a flurry of 3-pointers in the second half, that is.

After turnovers played a role in erasing the Chanticleers’ double-digit lead in the first half, Tennessee Tech went 7-of-9 from behind the arc in the second half to break open a close game en route to a 77-71 victory in a BracketBusters matchup.

“We had too many unforced turnovers in the first half and in the second half I didn’t think we defended the 3 the way we needed to,” said Coastal Carolina coach Cliff Ellis, whose team had 10 of its 16 turnovers come in the first half, helping negate a lead that ballooned to as many as 15 points. “I think the 3-point shot beat us.”

The Chants pecked away at a 16-point deficit in the second half and came within four points but failed to execute down the stretch in their final regular-season game – and perhaps last overall – at Kimbel Arena.

Junior guard Kierre Greenwood was fouled with 55 seconds left and sunk both free throws to get CCU within seven points. Senior center Jon Pack then fouled Zac Swansey, who missed both of his free throws, giving CCU another possession.

Junior guard Anthony Raffa then nailed a 3-pointer, assisted by Greenwood, to bring the Chants within four, but that was as close as Coastal Carolina would get.

“We should have beat them,” Pack said. “It’s just a tough game, we kind of gave it to them at the end of the first half, gave them a little momentum and they came out and played a good second half.”

All five Chants starters finished in double figures. Pack finished with 15 points and nine rebounds, Gradnigo, Raffa and junior forward Sam McLaurin had 12 points each and Greenwood had 11.

However, the CCU bench contributed only nine points.

“Our bench gave us nothing. It was poor overall,” Ellis said. “I thought our bigs played well. Jon Pack and Sam were strong inside but we really gave them nothing outside of those two guys.”

The key for Coastal was its play down low. The Chants outscored the Golden Eagles 40-16 in the paint, but their shots behind the arc weren’t falling as they were 5-of-16 from 3.

“It became a 3-point contest against our perimeter,” Ellis said. “They were sandwiched inside, those bigs played well, but our perimeter played as bad as we played all year.”

The Chants were also without junior guard Danny Nieman, who has been hampered by a hip pointer.

“We would have liked to have his pizzazz and spunk with the way we played today,” Ellis said. “We’d have loved to have him but we’re not going to use that as an excuse. We got guys that are supposed to step up.”

The Chanticleers have lost four of their last five games with a pair of Big South road contests left on the slate before the conference tournament.

It was a letdown for the Chants, who knocked off Big South leader UNC Asheville their last time out.

“We had good momentum coming into the game,” Pack said. “But we just have to look forward. We got two big games in Liberty and VMI; they’re really good teams and Liberty has been playing good lately so we just got to move our focus and get ready for Liberty.”

Ellis wasn’t happy with the way the Chants allowed Tennessee Tech to halt what could have been pivotal momentum late in the season.

“I don’t like it. I’m not very happy right now,” Ellis said. “I don’t like the way we played. I’m disappointed in our team and I just don’t think we can play this way.”

Especially with March approaching.

“We were mostly disappointed in our execution and our effort,” McLaurin said. “I think we didn’t play as good as we could have played – coach made it clear, you can’t play like that if you expect to win championships.”

The only way the Chants will play in Kimbel again is if they are the highest remaining seed heading into the Big South championship game.

“Any time you get a loss it’s definitely not a good feeling but our time here in Kimbel has been a great one,” Pack said. “We’ve had a lot of great games here, a lot of great memories. It definitely hurts going out on a loss.”

TENNESSEE TECH (18-11): Barnes 1-1 3-4 5, Inameti 1-1 1-2 3, Murphy 7-16 4-4 21, Swansey 4-8 1-4 13, Bailey 1-2 4-6 7, McMorrow 0-1 3-4 3, McKay 1-1 1-2 3, Dunn 0-1 0-0 0, Dillard 7-13 6-8 22, Ogbe 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-44 23-34 77.

COASTAL CAROLINA (18-9): McLaurin 6-7 0-0 12, Gradnigo 4-12 2-2 12, Pack 6-9 3-8 15, Raffa 5-11 1-2 12, Greenwood 3-12 4-4 11, Gillis 2-4 0-0 4, Ashford 0-0 0-0 0, Moore 2-3 0-0 5, Addey 0-1 0-0 0, Griffin 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 28-61 10-16 71.

Halftime–Tied 26-26. 3-Point Goals–Tennessee Tech 10-18 (Swansey 4-6, Murphy 3-5, Dillard 2-4, Bailey 1-2, Dunn 0-1), Coastal Carolina 5-16 (Gradnigo 2-6, Moore 1-2, Greenwood 1-2, Raffa 1-3, Gillis 0-1, Griffin 0-2). Fouled Out–None. Rebounds–Tennessee Tech 32 (Murphy 9), Coastal Carolina 32 (Pack 9). Assists–Tennessee Tech 10 (Swansey 4), Coastal Carolina 15 (Greenwood 8). Total Fouls–Tennessee Tech 22, Coastal Carolina 23. A–1,039.