In a game that saw 20 lead changes, Georgia Southern men's basketball (9-9, 2-4 SBC) dug deep and used some late heroics to earn an 88-87 overtime win at Coastal Carolina (8-10, 1-5), its first true road win of the season.
"It was a gutsy win. There were a lot of lead changes and a lot of momentum plays, but we're fortunate to walk out of here with a win," Bice-Peace head men's basketball coach Charlie Henry said. "We had some stuff happen at the end of regulation; we've got to step up and make three throws and we can't turn it over, we have to take care of the ball. I always save a time out, so if we're ever in trouble, I'll take one to get that stuff cleaned up. It's great to walk out of here with a win."
After nearly three minutes of scoreless basketball, the Eagles drew first blood on an Adante' Holiman fastbreak. The lead changed hands several times over the next few minutes, but Avantae Parker nailed his second three of the half to put the Eagles up two with 3:21 left.
Bradley Douglas recorded a five-point spurt to hold a four-point lead late in the frame, but the Chants knotted things at 33. Charging into the paint with less than five seconds left, Eren Banks got a crucial bounce on a layup to head into the break up two.
The Eagles shot an even 48 percent (12-25) from the field in the opening stanza, and Parker notched 11 points to pace the floor.
GS held the lead for much of the second half. Nakavieon White scored in the paint to put the team up five, and stretched it to as much as seven with 10:21 left on another baseline jumper.
Holding serve over the next several minutes, Banks knocked down a big three to push the lead to five, furthered to nine after Holiman sunk one at 2:22 to seemingly put the Eagles in the driver's seat.
However, free-throw struggles appeared in the final two minutes. Despite being 12-13 from the line heading in, the Eagles could not convert on three straight one-and-one opportunities, leading to Coastal chipping away.
Brafford made the second of two free throws, and with a 75-73 lead, the Chants found the open man to tie it with one second left, forcing overtime.
The Chants took their first lead since early in the first half with three minutes left in the overtime period, but an acrobatic heave at the shot-clock buzzer by White once again changed the lead over to the Eagles.
Clinging to a two-point lead with just over 30 seconds left, Douglas went up and over seven-foot-two Noah Amenhauser to sink a layup and make the lead four.
Douglas sunk all four of his free throws with less than 20 seconds left, and despite a pair of threes, including a buzzer-beater, the Eagles' four-point lead was just enough to earn them their first true road win of the season and first since Jan. 27, 2024 at Old Dominion. It's also the Eagles' first win at the HTC Center since the 2022-23 season.
In a game filled with unsung heroes, Douglas led the floor with 20 points, with Banks (19), Holiman (14) and Parker (13) joining him. Banks is now averaging 19.7 points in three career games against Coastal Carolina.
"This win means everything to us, man," Banks said. "We had to make tough plays, and we made them tonight, [even with] going down and missing three front ends of one-and-ones. We found a way, came together, got stops and won the game."
Henry has been right there for Banks' efforts over the previous two seasons.
"Every Georgia Southern fan should be proud that they've got EB representing Georgia Southern," he said. "He's a great young man and I can't speak enough about him. It was good to see him play well, he's a really capable player, and we've got a lot of confidence in him."
Perhaps the most unsung of them all was forward Tyson Brown - who grabbed a game-high 11 boards, six offensive, while also contributing five points.
Parker, White and Collin Kuhl each had two blocks, and White added three steals to lead the Eagles.
GS will look to build on this win by heading to Norfolk on Saturday for a date with Old Dominion.
