Brunswick, Ga. – The College of Coastal Georgia men's basketball team dropped its home opener Saturday with a 91-87 loss to Erskine College at Howard Coffin Gym.
The game was the third of the season for the Mariners (0-3), who lost their opening two games last weekend to 22nd-ranked Martin Methodist and Voorhees College at the Brewton-Parker Tipoff Tournament in Mount Vernon.
A good-sized crowd turned out for Saturday's game hoping to see the Mariners pick up their first victory of the 2012-13 season against the NCAA Division II program from Due West, S.C.
It looked for the first 20 minutes like the Mariners might just crack the win column against the Flying Fleet who were playing their first game of the season as the Mariners led 44-37 at halftime.
However, the Fleet answered the bell in the second half, shooting their way into the lead with a barrage of 3-point buckets early in the second period as they erased their halftime deficit within the first four minutes of the second half.
Erskine hit three straight shots from the 3-point arc to pull even at 48-48, and moments later the Fleet broke a 51-51 deadlock with three more 3-pointers in succession to go in front 60-51 less than five minutes into the second half.
Erskine would build its lead to as much as 12 points soon after that, and though the Mariners would get back within single digits and keep it there coming down the stretch, they could never get any closer than two points the rest of the game.
The Fleet finished the second half making 9-of-15 from 3-point land and proceeded to shoot 58 percent from the field after halftime to overcome the lead the Mariners had built in the opening 20 minutes.
Four players would end up scoring in double figures for the Fleet, including Corey Sorrell who pumped in a game-high 26 points to pace the comeback by Erskine after the break.
Sophomore guard Reggie Burke led the Mariners in scoring with 22 points while four others also scored in doubles for the Mariners including Kentorey Johnson who scored 18 points in the defeat. Johnson entered the game averaging 15.5 points a game to lead Coastal Georgia. Also scoring in twin numbers for the Mariners were P.J.Reason (16) and Dustin Henry (15).
Kevari Francis led the Mariners on the glass with 10 rebounds.
Coastal Georgia will begin conference play for the first time in the Southern States Athletic Conference with back-to-back road games at William Carey and Belhaven this coming Friday and Saturday.
