Charleston Southern Pulls Away Late from Men’s Hoops

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Charleston Southern used a late run to pull away from the Coppin State
men's basketball team as the Eagles fell, 93-67, on Friday afternoon at Richardson Indoor Stadium.  The battle of the CSU's marked the final game of the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis mainland games.

The Basics

• Final Score: Coppin State 67, Charleston Southern 93
• Records: Coppin State 0-7 / Charleston Southern 4-2
• Location: Spartanburg, S.C. (Richardson Indoor Stadium)
• Series History: Charleston Southern Leads, 1-0

How It Happened:
First Half

• Coppin State trailed the entire half but hung in there to keep the deficit within reach.
• After a layup by Kent Auslander made the score 20-13 in favor of the Buccaneers with 8:59 left, Charleston Southern hit back-to-back three's to go up 26-13.
• Lamar Morgan converted on a three-point play and was followed up by three's by freshmen Ibn Willams and Nigel Marshall, cutting the advantage to just 26-22 with 5:13 left.
• Charleston Southern closed out the half on a 20-6 run to take a 46-28 lead into the break as Williams, Cedric Council and Chad Andrews-Fulton accounted for points for the Eagles.

Second Half

• The Eagles came out of the intermission strong, opening the second half on an 11-2 run to close within double digits.
• Whenever it seemed that Coppin would claw its way back, Charleston Southern used a dagger of a three-pointer as to keep the Eagles from getting into striking distance.
• Following a jumper by Lamar Morgan with 6:33 left to get the game to 75-63, Charleston Southern pulled away with a 12-0 run over the next three minutes to seal the victory.
• Dejuan Clayton stopped the scoreless streak with a pair of free throws before another six unanswered points by the Buccaneers.
• A layup by Justin Steers with 56 ticks remaining was Coppin's first field goal in nearly six minutes.

Inside the Numbers

• Three Eagles scored in double figures, led by Dejuan Clayton's 14 points.  Twelve of his points came in the second half and he also dished out four assists. Lamar Morgan finished with 11 points while Chad Andrews-Fulton added ten points.
• Justin Steers and Kent Auslander chipped in with eight points apiece while Cedric Council and Ibn Williams tallied five points each. Steers matched Morgan for a team-high five rebounds and tied Council with a pair of blocks.
• Coppin had no answer for Charleston Southern's three-point range as the Buccaneers made 14-of-29 for 48.3%.  Duncan LeXander (6-of-7) and Deontaye Buskey (4-of-9) combined for ten three-pointers while Christian Keeling recorded a triple double with 20 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists.  LeXander finished with 23 points while Buskey also recorded 20.
• Charleston Southern outshot Coppin, 49.2% to 41.5% and held a 41-27 advantage on the boards.

 Up Next

• Coppin State returns to action on Thursday, November 29 when it travels to take on James Madison University.  Tipoff is scheduled for 7 pm.