Brunswick, Ga. – The College of Coastal Georgia men's basketball team is still looking for its first victory in the Southern States Athletic Conference after falling 85-77 on Friday night to Auburn-Montgomery at Howard Coffin Gym.
The game was the first SSAC game at home for the Mariners (1-7 overall, 0-3 league) who opened conference play on the road two weekends ago with a pair of losses at William Carey and Belhaven.
The Warhawks improved to 3-4 overall, 2-1 in conference with the win over Coastal Georgia.
The Mariners started fast, scoring the game's first five points. They led for the opening seven minutes, but the Warhawks tied them 12-12 with just under 13 minutes to go in the first half and would actually never trail the rest of the night.
Auburn-Montgomery went up by as much as nine before the half and took a 34-26 advantage into intermission.
In the second half, the visitors would extend their lead to as much as 14 twice and the margin was too much for Coastal Georgia to overcome, though, the Mariners did make a late run.
Down 12 with 2:10 to go, the Mariners whittled their deficit to three in the final minute but the Warhawks kept them at bay by making free throws.
After a bucket in the paint for Coastal Georgia by Kentorey Johnson, who scored 16 points in the loss, the Mariners were within 78-75 with 25 seconds left.
A foul shot by Tristen Harrell on the other end gave the Warhawks a 79-75 lead.
The Mariners misfired on a three-pointer that would have trimmed their deficit to a point with 15 seconds to go and Reshad Bickham knocked down two fouls shots for Auburn-Montgomery for a 81-75 lead after that when Coastal Georgia was again forced to foul.
The Mariners missed another three in the closing moments and Quay Davis tacked on two more free throws for the Warhawks to make for the final score.
Dominique Ellis and Bickham led four scorers in double figures for Auburn-Montgomery with 14 points each.
For Coastal Georgia, Reggie Burke, the team's leading scorer, poured in a game-high 19 points in the loss. P.J. Reason added 15 points for the Mariners while Dustin Henry contributed 13.
Johnson finished with 11 rebounds to lead the Mariners on the glass and finish with a double-double for the game.
Auburn-Montgomery shot 50 percent from the field for the game, making 26 of 52 attempts.
The Warhawk bench outscored Coastal Georgia's bench 21-3 for the game.
Coastal Georgia will again shoot for its first conference win when it hosts Faulkner for a 5 p.m. league matchup on Saturday. Faulker won 81-73 Friday at Brewton-Parker to go to 9-1 overall and 3-0 in league action.
