Brunswick, Ga. – The College of Coastal Georgia men's basketball team picked up a much-needed 83-81 victory Sunday afternoon over Armstrong State University at Howard Coffin Gym.
The non-conference win snapped a five-game losing streak and allowed the Mariners (3-7) to avenge an earlier 98-78 loss to the Pirates (4-4) in Savannah.
Also, it ended Coastal Georgia's frustration resulting from close losses at home. The Mariners have lost two games at Coffin by two points in the early going including last Saturday's 66-64 loss to Loyola in their second Southern States Athletic Conference game, and also lost the season-opener 73-72 to Lindsey Wilson at home.
This one would be a close win, though, for the Mariners.
In the closing seconds, the Mariners cleared the lane for freshman point guard Jordan Lewis who banked a six-footer off the glass with three seconds left that broke an 81-81 tie and turned out to be the game-winner after Armstrong's Jamison Jeffers misfired from just inside the three-point arc on the other end as time expired.
The Coastal Georgia players stormed the court then quickly swarmed Lewis near the scorer's table as they celebrated the victory over the NCAA Division II Pirates.
"It was a good win for our program," said Coastal Georgia coach Jesse Watkins. "Hopefully, we can build on this. We came together and played together and struck at the right time."
Watkins said he wanted Lewis to take the ball to the rim for the last shot, thus he didn't call a timeout since Lewis already had the ball in his possession in the Coastal Georgia frontcourt.
"We just let him make a play," the coach noted. "He felt confident. He had a good second half and stepped up to the plate. He made a veteran play."
Lewis, one of the many freshmen on the Coastal Georgia roster, finished with 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the floor while going 3-for-4 from the foul line.
He was one of four Mariners to score in double figures in the victory. Haylen Washington led all scorers with 29 points for Coastal Georgia. He finished with a season-high 32 in the loss to the Pirates in the earlier meeting. On Sunday, he was 7-for-11 from the field and a perfect 14-for-14 from the foul line.
Others reaching twin numbers for Coastal Georgia were Jaylen Smallwood (13) and Brandon Martin (11).
Coastal Georgia shot just 28.6 percent in the opening half, but caught fire after halftime, making 15 of their 27 shots from the field to finish the game shooting 40.3 percent (25-62). The Mariners essentially won the game at the foul line where they converted 29 of their 31 free shots.
Armstrong placed four players in double figures including Corey Tillery who finished with 25 points in defeat.
It was Tillery who led the Pirates to a fast start as they jumped out to a 21-9 lead on the Mariners in the first 7:07 of the game. Armstrong hit four three-pointers in the four minutes of the game with Tillery drilling three of those alone.
Playing catch-up from the outset, the Mariners battled back and took their first lead on a three-pointer by Washington to go up 30-29 with 3:20 to play before halftime. The teams were tied three times coming down the stretch of the first half before the Pirates took a 39-33 cushion into intermission.
After halftime, Armstrong built its advantage to as much as 11 twice in the first seven minutes, holding a 54-43 lead with just under 13 minutes remaining.
But with Washington leading the way, the Mariners went on a 15-4 run to draw even at 58-58 on a pair of foul shots by Lewis with 8:01 to go.
From there, the teams would be tied five different times and neither side would lead by more than five the rest of the way.
The Pirates led 78-77 as the game reached the final minute. On Coastal Georgia's next possession, Isaiah Gibson was fouled and the freshman guard went to the line where he made two free throws to put the Mariners ahead 79-78.
The Pirates got off two shots on their next trip, including a putback that wouldn't go down, before Washington rebounded the ball for the Mariners and was fouled with 36 seconds left.
Washington then made both of his foul shots for an 81-78 Mariners' lead with 36 seconds left.
However, Jeffers would can a trifecta from the top of the key for the Pirates on their next possession to the deadlock score for the 10th time of the afternoon at 81-81 with 26 seconds to go.
That set the stage for Lewis who made the game-winner for the Mariners, dribbling along the left side of the lane before pulling up and banking his shot off the glass.
Coastal Georgia will host Webber International for a 6 p.m. game on Thursday to conclude its pre-Christmas schedule.
