Mount Vernon, Ga. - The College of Coastal Georgia men's baskeball team got its season off to a winning start of Friday, knocking off Voorhees 77-74 here.

The game was part of the opening-weekend tournament that is hosted annually by Brewton-Parker.

The Mariners trailed 37-36 at halftime, but would lead by as much as seven late in the second half. They saw that lead disappear, but the Mariners managed to recover in time to pull out the win in the opener for both teams.

"We played well in spurts," said Coastal Georgia head coach Jesse Watkins. "We had our moments defensively, and offensively we need to finish plays better and also make our free throws.

"I was proud of the way we regained our composure and came away with the win."

For the Mariners, senior transfer Dominic Early led the scoring with 20 points. Marquice Jones, a senior transfer who played high school ball at Brunswick, followed with 15 for the Mariners. Derrick Frye added 15 points and Milton Geddes scored 10.

Early and Frye led the Mariners on the backboards with seven and six rebounds, respectively.

Voorhees got a game-high 21 points from Jeffery Mack in defeat.

Coastal Georgia will be back in back in action Saturday in Mount Vernon against Morris College which was scheduled to play host Brewton-Parker on Friday night. Tip time is 2 p.m.