Brunswick, Ga. – With a prime chance to pick up a victory Tuesday night on the first day of the new year against an Edward Waters team which also has a losing record, it was unfortunately much of the same for the Mariners who fell 71-64 to the Tigers in non-league action at Howard Coffin Gym.

The loss dropped the Mariners to 2-12 for the season as they missed a chance to earn the season sweep against Edward Waters which they had beaten in December in Jacksonville, Fla., for their second victory of the season.

For the Tigers (2-7), the win was just their second of the season.

The game was close throughout the first half as the largest lead in the opening 20 minutes was a six-point advantage for Coastal Georgia, which would trail 31-29 at the halftime break.

The Tigers would actually lead throughout the whole second half. They built their lead to 44-35 in the first five minutes of the second period, but the Mariners fought back to tie the score 47-47 just inside the 10-minute mark.

But again, the Tigers were able to pull away, running out to a 58-50 lead in the next five minutes. And as they did earlier, the Mariners charged back, pulling within 60-58 with 1:37 to go on a jump shot along the baseline by Dustin Henry, to give themselves an opportunity for the win.

However, the Tigers wouldn't allow the comeback. They immediately got a breakaway layup on their next possession for a 62-58 lead as they broke the Mariners' press, and after a Ryan Vines three-pointer on the left wing got the Mariners within 62-61 with 59 seconds left, the Tigers would salt the game away by making nine of 10 foul shots over the remaining time to hold off the Mariners.

The Tigers made their first two free throws after the Mariners were called for a foul in the backcourt as they applied full-length pressure after getting within a point of the lead.

Now down three, the Mariners misfired on back-to-back possessions with a chance to possibly tie the score and the Tigers continued to make their foul shots to pull away for good.

For the game, Edward Waters connected on 24 of 28 free-throw attempts including an 18-of-21 showing from the charity stripe after halftime.

Meantime, the Mariners were just 8-of-16 from the foul line for the night.

Kentorey Johnson led all scorers in the game with 21 points for the Mariners. Johnson also had a team-high seven rebounds.

Henry followed with 14 points off the bench for Coastal Georgia while leading scorer Reggie Burke finished with 12 points in the loss.

For the Tigers, Nathaniel Hill led four players who scored in doubles with 19 points while Jermonte Bush followed closely with 18 points. Leonardo Davis and Dylan Watts both hit for 10 points for the winners.

The Mariners will now prepare to resume conference action on Friday at Mobile (Ala.) before taking on Spring Hill on Saturday, also in Mobile. The Mariners are still looking for their first win in the Southern States Athletic Conference after starting out 0-4 in league action before Christmas.

Fourteen of Coastal Georgia's final 15 games are conference games. Their only remaining non-league game is a Jan. 22 road contest at Coker College, the only other team the Mariners have beaten to this point this season.