Hattiesburg, Miss. – The College of Coastal Georgia men's basketball team is still searching for its first victory of the season after losing 96-75 to William Carey in its first-ever game in the Southern States Athletic Conference on Friday night.

The Mariners led early but simply could not keep pace with a strong and physical Crusaders team which is 3-0 for the season.

The Crusaders lost close to Mississippi State from the Southeastern Conference in an exhibition game earlier this month.

"They're good, the best team we've played," said Coastal Georgia coach Gerald Cox. "They're physical, much more physical than us. We've got to learn to play that way. It's just a learning process."

The Crusaders led 48-35 at halftime. They outscored the Mariners (0-4 overall, 0-1 SSAC) 48-40 in the second half.

P.J. Reason scored 20 points to lead the Mariners while Reggie Burke added 14 points.

The Crusaders had three players score in double figures. They were led by Kelvin Nixon who scored 25 points to lead all scorers. Jeremiah Dunnings followed with 20 points and Guy Payne scored 14.

The Mariners will stay in Mississippi on Saturday for a game at Belhaven, which knocked off No. 6 Southern Polytechnic 75-73 in its conference opener on Friday. Belhaven improved to 3-3 for the season with the win.

Live stats and video of the Belhaven game will be available at the link below.

http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/belhaven.portal#