Jacksonville, Fla. – The College of Coastal Georgia men's basketball team used a strong defensive effort to knock off Edward Waters 61-51 here on Tuesday night in the first of two non-conference meetings between the teams this season.
The Mariners held the Tigers to 30.2 percent shooting as the Tigers connected on just 19 field goals in 63 attempts for the game. Coastal Georgia also forced the home team into 22 turnovers for the game while collecting 30 of its 34 total rebounds off the defensive glass.
Coastal Georgia led the final 23:44 of the game after taking its first lead late in the opening half. The Mariners led by as much as 13 after halftime and never let the home squad get any closer than five points though they flirted with making a few runs coming down the stretch.
"I'm really proud of my guys and the way we played defensively," said Coastal Georgia coach Jesse Watkins "My assistant (Tommy Yancey) did a good job with the defensive game plan, and the guys did a good job of taking away their key guys and making others make shots for them."
The Mariners didn't exactly torch the nets themselves, going 18-for-48 from the floor which included an 8-for-24 showing from 3-point land. But a 3-point barrage in the first half and crucial buckets to thwart potential surges late by the Tigers along with a 17-for-23 performance at the foul line gave the Mariners all the offense they needed to come home victorious.
For the third straight game to start the season, senior transfer Dominic Early led the Mariners in scoring as he finished with a game-high 22 points to lead the victory. He scored 20 points in both of the team's games this past weekend in the Brewton-Parker tournament.
Corey Harris added 12 points for the Mariners while Carey Walker poured in 11 to give the Mariners three players in double figures.
Charles-Eddie Smith led the Tigers in defeat with 22 points to match Coastal Georgia's Early for game-best honors. Keith Williams added 10 points for Edward Waters before fouling out late.
The Mariners got off to a slow start as they fell behind 12-3 in the first six minutes of the game. They were still down 19-11 when junior newcomer Marquice Jones made a bucket in the paint to ignite a 16-0 surge by Coastal Georgia, which outscored the Tigers 18-4 over the final 7:30 of the opening half.
Coastal Georgia would score the next 12 points of the game from three-point range as Jacksonville product Hunter DeRuiter hit a trey which was followed by three straight trifectas by Walker that gave the Mariners a 22-19 lead. Early would also add a bucket for a 27-19 advantage with 2:04 left before halftime.
Smith finally made a bucket for the Tigers to stop the run by the Mariners who would lead 29-23 at the break.
After halftime, the Mariners doubled their lead on an old-fashioned three-point play by Early for a 37-25 score with 16:35 to play. They would take their largest lead of the night, 42-29, with 12:55 to go on a three-pointer by Jones.
The Tigers did trim their deficit to 46-41 with 6:21 to go, and three different times after that they also got as close as five. But each time, the Mariners answered with points on the other end to hold off the home squad.
The teams will play again in Brunswick on Dec. 1.
Coastal Georgia is scheduled to play its home opener at 7 p.m. Saturday against Thomas University. That game will follow the 5 p.m. women's game between the schools.
