Brunswick, Ga. – The College of Coastal Georgia men's basketball team dropped a 71-69 decision Saturday afternoon to Carver College in non-conference action at Howard Coffin Gym.
In a game that was close throughout the entire second half, the Mariners had a chance to win at the end but a desperation three-point try by Hunter DeRuiter was well off the mark, sending Coastal Georgia to a close defeat.
"We didn't come out ready to play," said Coastal Georgia coach Jesse Watkins who was disappointed in his team's defensive effort in the first half which closed with Carver (4-5) holding a 44-43 lead. "We didn't play hard and let them get hot and that cost us."
The loss snapped a two-game winning streak by the Mariners (3-2) who had won three of their first four and had a chance to tie their four-win total all of last season with another victory on Saturday in their first-ever matchup with the Cougars team from metro Atlanta.
Coastal will try again for win No. 4 on Tuesday when it hosts NCAA program Erskine for a 7 p.m. tilt.
Saveyon Edwards led all scorers with 27 points for Carver including 21 of the team's first 30 points of the contest. Jamil Saaka added 10 points before fouling out.
The Cougars shot 40.6 percent (28 of 69) despite going just 4-for-17 from three-point land.
For Coastal Georgia, which shot just 32.4 percent (23 of 71), Dominic Early led the way with 16 points while Derrick Frye followed with 14 and was the only other player to finish in double figures. Early, who came in averaging 23 points, was held under 20 for the first time in five games this season.
The Mariners connected on just 7 of 25 three-point attempts including just 2 of 12 after halftime as they shot only 28 percent from the arc.
"No, we didn't shoot it well, either," Watkins said emphatically.
The Mariners did start fast, jumping ahead 12-3 in the first three minutes, but Edwards brought the Cougars roaring back as the visitors went on a 27-10 surge to go up 30-22 with just under 10 minutes to play before intermission.
The Mariners still trailed by eight inside the final 3:30 but closed the opening half with a spurt that featured two treys by DeRuiter and two by Carey Walker that got them with 44-43 at the break.
After halftime, the Cougars held the largest lead at five points twice as the two squads were tied four different times and exchanged the lead six times.
Carver led 68-63 with 3:05 to go, but Coastal Georgia scored on two Marquice Jones foul shots and a bucket in the paint by Derrick Frye to close within 68-67 before a timeout by Carver with 1:12 remaining.
The Cougars misfired on their end with 40 seconds to go, giving the Mariners the ball with a chance to regain the lead. However, a pull-up jump shot just inside the foul line by Early wouldn't go down and Carver rebounded the miss with 21 seconds to play.
The Cougars would get two free throws by Akerannan Archi after a Coastal foul in the backcourt for a 70-67 cushion with 15 seconds to go. The Mariners then had to settle for a layup from Frye that cut it to 70-69 with four seconds remaining.
A quick foul against Coastal Georgia led to another made foul shot by the Cougars which forced the Mariners to inbound the ball from the far end with just two seconds left. The inbound heave was deflected out of bounds by Carver near the Coastal Georgia bench with a second left.
The Cougars put their tallest defender in front of Coastal Georgia's Corey Harris on the throw-in, and when the Mariners couldn't get a lob toward the basket, Harris inbounded it to DeRuiter in the left corner but his off-balance three never had a chance at the buzzer.
The Mariners and Cougars will meet again in Atlanta on Dec. 19 which will be Coastal Georgia's final game before the Christmas break.
