Chanticleers look to extend winning streak as High Point visits

When the Coastal Carolina men’s basketball team was sitting at 2-4 in the Big South standings, it figured it would take something incredible to thrust the Chanticleers back into the race for the Big South regular-season title.

Well, seven consecutive wins later they are riding the program’s longest winning streak since a run of 22-straight victories back in the 2010-11 season, all the while keeping pressure on league leader UNC Asheville which sits just a game ahead of them in the league.

But with only five games left on the schedule, the Chants can’t afford to let up now, so they’ll look to keep the streak rolling as High Point visits The HTC Center on Thursday night.

“Every time you win a couple games in a row the confidence on the team just comes up, but we’ll still take it one game at a time, one possession at a time,” senior forward Badou Diagne said. “We’re not taking any team lightly at all.”

Especially because the Chants (15-8, 9-4 Big South) remember all too well the situation they were in prior to this winning streak.

Coastal Carolina had lost back-to-back games to Liberty, which has turned itself into the league’s biggest overachiever this season, and a struggling Longwood team that remains near the back of the pack in the league standings.

It seemed unlikely then that the Chants would overcome their slow start, but here they are.

“It’s been very special, especially after the loss we had before we started winning,” Diagne said. “We were looking for any way possible to make it up so that’s what we’re doing right now.”

High Point (14-9, 7-5), meanwhile, started the season as a popular pick to win the Big South , but have had their struggles of late, losing five of their last seven games.

The Panthers also lost their first meeting with Coastal Carolina, 71-68 in High Point, N.C., back in mid-January.

Senior forward John Brown remains a force, averaging a Big South-best 20.3 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. Lorenzo Cugini (12.4 points per game, 50.9-percent 3-point shooting) and Adam Weary (11.4 points per game) are quality complementary players, but the formula hasn’t added up to many wins lately.

“Well the league is good. They’re still who they are and they’re in the race,” coach Cliff Ellis said. “They’ve got Brown and Weary and Cugini, all those guys, they can make things happen. They’re still High Point.”

Added Diagne: “High Point, we always take them as one of the top teams when we play them.”

As for Diagne, he is coming off a season-best performance in which he tallied 13 points and 16 rebounds in the Chants’ 72-60 win at Radford on Saturday.

In the process, he became just the 21st player in program history to top the 1,000-career point plateau.

“It means a lot, especially being the 21st in Coastal history to make it, but I wouldn’t be able to make it without my teammates so I think we all made the 1,000th point. I’m happy for it,” he said.

The Chants’ frontcourt is also due another boost as senior forward Marcus Freeman has shed the protective boot he was wearing and is expected to make his return Thursday night after missing four games with a strained foot.

Freeman has been perhaps the Chants’ best reserve this season, averaging 8.0 points and 7.1 rebounds per game in conference play.

“Hopefully [he] can see limited time. He’ll see the doctor before the game, but he’s been progressing,” Ellis said. “He’s back and we’ll just have to see about tomorrow night. But we’re getting him back and that’s the good thing.”

As for the winning streak, Ellis said he is proud of the team chemistry that has formed and the perseverance the Chants have showed in overcoming injury setbacks along the way.

They’ve put themselves in this position to have a chance at the regular-season title, but they can’t relent now.

“The message doesn’t change,” Ellis said. “Just stay in the moment, focus on what we’ve got to do today.”

This story was originally published February 10, 2016 at 7:37 PM with the headline "Chanticleers look to extend winning streak as High Point visits."