Men's Basketball Sun Belt Conference

Chanticleers Claim Semifinal Berth Over Troy

PENSACOLA, Fla. - Coastal Carolina (16-6) led for all but the first 2:37 of the game against the Troy Trojans (11-17), pulling away in the second half to an 86-68 win in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Championships, presented by First Bank & Trust. It's CCU's fifth win of the season over the Trojans and third in nine days.

“It’s hard to beat a team five times, so I’m proud of our team,” said CCU head coach Cliff Ellis after the game. “I thought our defense gave us some great looks, we made some big shots in key moments. Troy made a run, we didn’t panic. I’m proud of our team, it was a great team effort. We got a lot of great play from a lot of great people.”

After the initial two buckets from Duke Miles, the Chanticleers answered with an 11-0 run that gave CCU an 11-4 lead. Moments later an 11-2 spurt helped the Chanticleers open a 20-8 lead - their largest lead of the half. Troy whittled away at the margin in the final moments of the period, but at the break, CCU led by seven, 33-26.

Troy fought to close the gap to a single point in the early stages of the second half, but the Chanticleers put the game away with a 25-6 run that helped CCU push their lead out to 69-47 with 4:26 to go in the game. From that point in, the result was academic, and the Chanticleers claimed the victory 86-68.

The Chanticleers got a balanced offensive attack in the game, including an impressive 37 point effort from their bench. DeVante’ Jones led the way with 20 points and six rebounds; Garrick Green poured in 15 points; and Deanthony Tipler and Tyrik Dixon each added 13. Dixon also contributed eight rebounds and five assists.

Zay Williams led Troy with 19 points and 12 rebounds, and Miles added 14 points and five assists before he fouled out. Jakevan Leftridge also scored 11 for the Trojans in the loss. 

Coastal Carolina dominated the battle of the benches 37-19, and they also enjoyed comfortable scoring advantaged in the paint (36-20), off turnovers (19-8), and on the fast break (13-7). 

The Chanticleers move on to take on the App State Mountaineers (15-11) in the second semifinal on Sunday evening at Pensacola’s Bay Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. CT on ESPN+. The teams did not meet in the regular season, as both scheduled meetings were canceled.