Chants hold off Wofford surge for big road win

When Coastal Carolina knocked down 16 of its first 18 shots Monday night and had a reserve bank in a 3-pointer later in the first half during his only two minutes on the court, well, it just seemed like this was going to be the Chanticleers’ evening.

And in the end it was – but the rest of the game was anything but easy.

After trailing by as many as 17 points, Wofford made it a 3-point game in the final minutes before Coastal Carolina closed out a 71-63 win before a crowd of 1,026 inside the Terriers’ Benjamin Johnson Arena.

That makes three straight wins for the Chants (6-4), and this might be the highlight on their resume so far. Wofford’s record is now 3-6, but like Coastal Carolina the program has been in the NCAA tournament each of the last two years and four of its losses so far have come against teams from the traditional power conferences.

“It’s a great win. It’s two top teams in mid-major basketball,” Chants junior point guard Shivaughn Wiggins said. “We had a lot of respect for them coming into the game. We knew they would come out and play and we got the win on the road.”

Eventually.

The Chants peaked their lead at 40-23 on a baseline jumper from sophomore guard Jaylen Shaw late in the first half, capping that blistering 16-of-18 stretch.

They’d finish a ridiculous 85 percent (17-of-20) from the field in the first half, capped by a 3-pointer off the backboard from freshman forward Kevin Holmes Jr., who had just entered the game and wouldn’t attempt another shot for the evening.

That helped send Coastal Carolina into halftime up 43-29, but the Chants knew it wouldn’t be that simple.

“That was a great team. They’ve been in the tournament back-to-back [years] just like us, it was on the road and we knew they would come back in the second half swinging,” Wiggins said.

With a little less than eight minutes remaining, Wofford’s Cameron Jackson knocked down a short jumper to cut the Chants’ lead to 56-49.

After an offensive foul on junior guard Elijah Wilson on the other end, the Terriers kept the pressure on as Eric Garcia worked his way to the foul line for two free throws.

Junior Colton Ray-St Cyr went 1-for-3 from the line over the Chants’ next two possessions before Garcia followed with a layup to make it a 57-53 game with 5:56 remaining.

Garcia was back at the foul line again a minute later and converted two more free throws to make it 58-55.

And even after Coastal Carolina pushed its lead back to nine with 2:39 remaining after answering with six straight points, the Terriers weren’t done yet.

Spencer Collins delivered a layup and then later an offensive rebound to set up another layup and free throw as part of his own 5-1 run.

Garcia drained two more free throws moments later, and after Shaw missed two foul shots, Collins drained 1-of-2 at the other end to again make it a three-point game at 66-63 with 1:29 left.

The decibel level was rising in the gym when Wiggins was whistled for an offensive foul at the other end, but the momentum stalled when Fletcher Magee missed a 3-pointer and Wiggins drew a foul on the rebound.

He made both free throws, and after Collins missed a jumper for the Terriers, Ray-St Cyr went back to the line with 32.2 seconds on the clock and hit two more foul shots to make it a 70-63 game as the Chants finally pulled away.

“Anytime you’re on the road, that’s just the way it is,” Chants coach Cliff Ellis said. “We played such a great game offensively in many aspects. The only complaint [was] we had too many turnovers and we missed some foul shots down the stretch, but anytime you come on the road and get a win that’s huge for you. ...

“That’s what you have to do on the road. We have a lot of guys who have been in that situation before – you just have to dig it out and we did.”

Wiggins led Coastal Carolina with 14 points (including 9-of-12 shooting at the line), senior forward Badou Diagne added 13 points and seven rebounds, senior forward Tristian Curtis had 10 points and eight boards and senior forward Michel Enanga contributed 10 points off the bench on 4-of-5 shooting.

That was perhaps the biggest surprise of the game as Enanga played 16 minutes after Ellis had indicated earlier this week that the veteran reserve may be lost for the season with a nagging knee injury. Enanga himself had tweeted earlier in the day, “Can’t believe it’s gonna b my last game for a while.”

Speaking after the game, he said his status for the rest of the season is still up in the air.

“I don’t really know. We have to talk about it. ... I’ve got to talk to coach and see what’s going to happen,” Enanga said. “... It’s not for me to judge, it’s not for me to [determine]. I have to talk to them this week so I don’t know.”

Ellis had activated Holmes last game as a response to Enanga’s knee situation after initially planning to redshirt the rookie. He said on Friday that he didn’t know how much longer Enanga could keep playing through the pain, and speaking Monday night he reiterated it’s still to be determined.

“Well, he was good today,” Ellis said. “He’s going to see the doctors tomorrow and we’ll go from there.”

All Enanga really wanted to talk about after the game, though, was the win and the poise his team showed down the stretch to hold on for a big victory.

“It’s definitely a good team. That explains why they went to the NCAA [tournament] two years in a row. It was tough, but I had faith in my teammates and they showed it,” he said.

This story was originally published December 14, 2015 at 10:28 PM with the headline "Chants hold off Wofford surge for big road win."