Ellis hits another milestone as Coastal Carolina tops Appalachian State

While the Coastal Carolina men’s basketball team kept it rolling in Sun Belt Conference play, Chanticleers head man Cliff Ellis hit a milestone Saturday.

Forty-five years in the making, Ellis picked up his 800th career victory as a head coach with CCU’s 85-73 win over Appalachian State at the HTC Center to improve to 4-1 in the conference.

“Where has the time gone? I’ve been very blessed when you look at 800 wins and I told our team, ‘Just in wins alone, there’s 365 days in a year so that’s two and a half years just living your life in a pressure cooker trying to win a basketball game.’ Whether it be Appalachian State, whether it be against Duke or against Kentucky or UAB or Jackson State – my first win – that’s a lot,” Ellis said. “You add the losses to that and it’s probably well over three and a half years. When you look at it, you say, ‘My gosh, that’s a lot of time.’ But where did the time go? I’ve been very fortunate. And every player that’s ever played for me has been a part of this.”

As for the victory and what it means for the Chanticleers to move to 4-1 during their first season in the Sun Belt since a move from the Big South last season?

“I’m proud of our team. My goodness, I don’t think anybody expected us to be where we are in the league right now,” Ellis said. “Now, it’s early. Long way to go, but this league is something else. But I’m very proud of our team because we’re battling, we are being smarter, we are knocking down some shots. We’ve got to overcome the lapses on the defensive side because we get a cushion sometimes and we kind of catch our breath a little bit. I like our bench, I like our depth and this was a good win. A very, very good win. Proud of them.”

Ellis has been especially proud of senior guard Shivaughn Wiggins, who played 31 minutes and had 15 points, five rebounds and three assists in his third straight game since re-joining the team last week following an indefinite suspension from last season.

Ellis feels Wiggins was the missing piece for the Chants this season, and the stats back that up. In the three games (all wins) that Wiggins has been back, Coastal Carolina has committed just 27 turnovers (nine per game) and committed just six Saturday.

Wiggins has played increasingly better each game, putting up just two points, two assists and five rebounds in 18 minutes off the bench in his first game back – an 80-65 win last Saturday. On Monday, Wiggins played 23 minutes and put up 12 points, grabbed four boards and had two assists. Also, he’s committed just two turnovers in three games.

“I think what we’re seeing now with Shivaughn in the lineup is our turnovers aren’t where they were before December. We’re not where we need to be yet, but we’re getting better. Let’s keep in mind Shivaughn has only been with us for a week,” Ellis said. “But there’s no doubt – he’s huge for us. Our turnovers are down, that’s the first thing you notice. Our bench got stronger. When you take a 40-minute stretch and add [Wiggins] to the lineup – defensively, the things he does, it just makes a difference. At the same point in time, everybody on our team is focusing on getting better.”

That was proven Saturday as Chants junior Jaylen Shaw led the team in scoring for the third straight game with a game-high 20 points, and senior Elijah Wilson has got into a rhythm and displayed a strong shooting performance as he drilled four 3-pointers en route to 19 points, and also grabbed six boards.

Big men Amidou Bamba and Demario Beck also had solid games for Coastal Carolina as they combined for 20 points and 13 rebounds.

Wilson said just having Wiggins back has brought out the best in everybody.

“Shivaughn is a really great leader and really brings out the energy in all of us – he’s very vocal and he’s a good teammate on top of that,” Wilson said. “He only wants the best for the team and when you have a player like him that can play so well on both ends, it really helps the team overall. We missed him, but we’re glad to have him back now.”

As for the 4-1 start in conference play, Wilson said he knew the potential was there and now everyone is gelling and he feels there’s no limit on their success.

“We always set our goals high,” Wilson said. “We knew it was going to be a tough league, but I think we have a talented team. It took a while to get on board and get everyone on the same page. But we’re starting to click and hopefully we keep up this run we’re having.”

Ellis said it’s special to see his team play so well while hitting a person milestone, which they contributed to. And it coming at the HTC Center in front of family and friends was just a bonus.

“I was very glad that Gene Keady was here, he’s a coach and friend. With him being here, the former coach at Purdue, that was special,” Ellis said. “And being able to win at home and share it with my wife and friends. But I want to move on. I want to enjoy it – but I say to myself, ‘Where has the time gone? And I’ve been very blessed’ I’m thankful for God for that; I really am.”

The Chants have full trust in Ellis, the only coach in history to win 150 games at four different schools.

“It’s great. He’s a hall of fame coach and I’ve been lucky to play for him. He’s really taught me a lot as a player; I’ve really grown since coming here,” Wilson said. “I just give congrats to him from this team and all the teams before that helped him get to 800 wins. We all appreciate him, and we just love to play for him.”

Now, a big test awaits with a road trip to the Peach State for Coastal Carolina as it plays Georgia Southern and Georgia State next week.

“I think we see the strength of the Sun Belt Conference. This was a dogfight again, which all games are going to be,” Ellis said. “That’s a very good team that we beat; they’re going to beat some people. We got balanced scoring, we rebounded well and we cut our turnovers down. … Our team is getting better and Shivaughn has certainly made a difference. We’re only going to get better.”

This story was originally published January 14, 2017 at 9:22 PM with the headline "Ellis hits another milestone as Coastal Carolina tops Appalachian State."