BRUNSWICK, Ga. - The Coastal Georgia men's basketball team lost a heartbreaker on their home floor to the Southeastern Fire on Saturday night, losing by a single point, 79-78. 

The Mariners (9-14, 2-10 TSC) fought back from their six point halftime deficit and trailed by as many as eight late in the second half, but a missed three pointer by Nick Jiles, which would have tied the game with two seconds remaining, ended the comeback bid. 

Both teams traded blows early in the first half, with six lead changes in the first five minutes of the game, but it was Southeastern (14-11, 6-6 TSC) who got the upper hand early, growing their lead to six halfway through the first half. The Fire led by as many as 12 in the first half, but the Mariners went on a 7-0 run late in the half thanks to back-to-back jumpers by Kaden McArthur and a three by Jiles to cut the lead to five. Once again the Fire responded with a 5-0 run of their own, but a layup from McArthur and a three by Aaron Daniels for CCGA once again cut that lead back to three. It seemed like the deficit would be just three for the Mariners going into the break, but a buzzer beater three to end the half by Malaki Vassell of Southeastern made it a six point deficit, with the Fire leading 45-39. 

McArthur and Jiles led the way at the break with 14 and 10 points respectively, with Daniels adding two three pointers. CCGA shot 51 percent from the field and 46 percent from three in the first half, but the Fire were just as good, shooting 64 percent from the field and an amazing 63% from deep. Southeastern also held the free throw advantage in the half 10-2. 

Both teams once again came out and traded baskets, but three minutes in Southeastern would take a double digit lead, and that would hold until a layup by DJ Taylor cut the lead back to single digits with 11:54 to go in the game. The lead did get back up to double digits, but an immediate 6-0 run from Jiles himself trimmed that lead down to six at the halfway point. Later in the half, CCGA used another 6-0 run, this time from Layton Veon and Jiles to get the lead down to two with the Fire leading 75-73 with just 2:39 remaining in the game. Both teams then went on a cold stretch with neither side scoring again until the Fire went to the free throw line with 18 seconds left. Sean Shore made both, and on the very next possession, Jiles answered with a three point play, making the score 77-76 with nine seconds on the clock. The Mariners once again fouled and this time Derek Murphy went 2-2 from the line and the lead was three again. In the final seconds, Jiles hoisted a three from the right wing and just missed the game tying shot, with Veon cleaning up the miss and cutting the lead back to one with less than a second. Southeastern then kept the ball away just long enough to run the clock out and spoil the comeback by the Mariners, winning by a final of 79-78. 

Jiles finished as the leading scorer for CCGA, finishing with 27 points along with nine rebounds, while shooting 50 percent from both the field and the three point line. McArthur added 16 points and Veon added 13 of his own. For the Fire, they had four players in double figures, led by Anthony Duncan with 17. 
 

The Mariners are back in action on Wednesday, February 21, when they travel to Lake Wales, FL to take on Warner. Tip off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.