NEW ORLEANS — Coastal Carolina never trailed in a 24-14 victory over San Jose State in the EasyPost Hawaii Bowl—halting the Spartans six-game winning streak in the process. 
 
The Chanticleers, who were one of an FBS-leading 12 Sun Belt football programs to compete in Bowl Season, improved to 2-2 in four all-time bowl appearances. 
 
The lowest-scoring first half in EasyPost Hawaii Bowl history saw Coastal Carolina lead 7-0 at the break, with the lone score coming on a two-yard touchdown toss from redshirt freshman quarterback Ethan Vasko to super senior tight end Matt Alaimo. 
 
The Chanticleer defense forced Spartan fumbles on back-to-back third quarter drives, which the offense then converted into 10 points off takeaways. Vasko hit redshirt junior tight end Kendall Karr for another two-yard touchdown strike and redshirt sophomore kicker Kade Hensley converted a 49-yard field goal to make it 17-0 in favor of Coastal Carolina. 
 
San Jose State responded with consecutive touchdown drives to score 14-straight fourth-quarter points and pull within a field goal. Vasko and the Chanticleer offense answered the challenge with a 10-play, 75-yard scoring drive of their own—capped with a one-handed touchdown snare by super senior Sam Pinckney in the corner of the end zone to provide the final margin. 
 
Vasko completed 20-of-33 passes for 199 yards and three touchdowns and led the Chanticleers with 50 rushing yards on 17 attempts, while Pinckney caught eight passes for 123 yards and a score. With the performance, Pinckney became the third player in Coastal Carolina program history with a 1,000-yard receiving season and set the single-season program record for receptions. 
 
Fumbles—forced by redshirt junior bandit Teddy Tiokeng and redshirt senior cornerback Abraham Temoney III—and recovered by redshirt junior linebacker Shane Bruce and senior cornerback Courtney Eubanks—were pivotal to the Coastal Carolina defensive effort.  
 
With the win, Coastal Carolina improves to 8-5 on the season.