Brunswick, Ga. – Even though the fans got their money's worth and the new Mariners mascot had plenty to cheer about, Thursday night's 85-77 overtime loss to Auburn-Montgomery at Howard Coffin Gym became another footnote in a tough season for the College of Coastal Georgia men's basketball team.
Senior guard Reggie Burke tied the game at 71-71 on a long three-pointer with 12.2 seconds left and the game went into the extra session after the Mariners made a defensive stop on the final possession of regulation by the Warhawks.
But, the Warhawks took control in overtime, opening the five-minute frame with a three in the left corner by Bobby Thompson and proceeding to outscore the Mariners 14-6 to pull out a key victory as they look to lock up a spot in the Southern States Athletic Conference tournament.
With the win, AUM improved to 12-14 overall and 6-9 in conference games, making them one of seven teams with six wins in league games. Ten teams will qualify for the league tournament. The fifth-place team in the standings, William Carey, is three games clear of the seven battling for the remaining five spots in the field.
Coastal Georgia fell to 4-22, 2-6 with the loss and will finish out the season with three games in conference starting with Faulkner on Saturday before playing at Dalton State and Middle Georgia next week to close the campaign.
The Warhawks had five players score in double figure in the win including LeShaun Murphy who poured in a career-high 34 points including six in overtime to pace the visitors. Also for AUM, Reggie Brown recorded a double-double with 13 points and a career-best 19 rebounds.
For the Mariners, four players scored in twin figures with Obie Foreman leading the way off the bench with 19 points. Milton Geddes followed with 14 points and also 14 rebounds for a double-double performance while also getting three more blocks to raise his total to 52 for the season and remain among the nation's top-ranked shot-blockers.
Also for the home squad, Andrew Reid scored 13 points to go with nine boards and Darrean Wyatt added 12 points.
Coastal Georgia leading scorer Reggie Burke, who averages 16.4 points a game, finished with just six points.
His game-tying three in the closing moments of regulation was actually his only field-goal of the game, but of course it also was the biggest shot of the game for the Mariners.
The Mariners actually led most of the contest, though both teams held a six-point cushion in the opening half before the Mariners took a 36-31 advantage into intermission.
In the second half, AUM did get the lead five different times, but never led by more than four points. The visitors went up 69-65 on two Murphy foul shots with 1:14 left, but Reid pulled the Mariners within 69-68 with a three with 37 seconds left.
Murphy would connect on another pair of free throws for a 71-68 lead with 24 seconds to play, but after a timeout by the Mariners, Burke took his long trey from the right wing and buried it, sending the home fans into a frenzy and ultimately the game into overtime.
However, the Warhawks weren't to be denied as they scored nine of their 14 points from the foul line in the extra frame to seal the win.
The Mariners will host Faulkner at 4 p.m. Saturday. The game will be the last at Coffin for seniors Michael Matta, Foreman, Reid and Burke.
