Box Score
LAKE WALES, Fla. - The College of Coastal Georgia men's basketball team lost an overtime matchup with the Warner University Royals by a final of 93-84 on Wednesday night.
The Mariners (0-0, 0-0 TSC) got out to a hot start, building a 10-5 lead thanks to five points each from Nick Jiles and Layton Veon. The Royals (0-0, 0-0 TSC) wasted no time getting right back into the ballgame, using quick buckets from Skyler Scull and Blaize Darling Jr. With the Mariners trailing by one with 12:30 left in the first half, Brice Langford took matters into his own hands scoring six straight points and putting CCGA up two at the 10:49 mark. The Mariners held that lead until a Jamal Norris three pointer tied the game at 28 a piece with just under seven minutes left in the half. The Mariners then went on a quick 8-2 run, sparked by a pair of threes from Jiles and Veon, but the Royals immediately answered with a 7-0 run of their own to retake the lead 37-36. Both teams traded blows all the way into the break, with Warner holding the slight advantage on the scoreboard, leading 42-20.
Jiles led the way at the break with 12 points on 4-7 shooting, while both Veon and Brice Langford added 11 each. CCGA shot an even 50 percent from the field in the first half and 38 percent from three, countered by 45 percent from the field and 40 percent from three from the Royals. Warner also dominated the paint with three blocks to zero from the Mariners, and 14 points in the paint to CCGA's six. The Mariners, however, held the advantage on the glass 19-14 and had eight second chance points.
Warner started the second half on a 9-3 run which was capped off by a Josh Glesil layup, making the score 51-43 in favor of the Royals. Coastal immediately answered with a 10-2 run, fueled by free throws from Salle Wilson, two made jumpers from Jiles, and a layup from Veon. Later in the half, CCGA used four straight free throws from Wilson to tie the game at 61 all with 9:47 left in the game. After the Royals took the lead back, Veon made another big layup to tie the game once again and keep the Mariners in the fight. With the score tied, the Mariners went on an 8-0 run thanks to a three from Veon and an and one layup from DJ Taylor. At that point, both teams went cold other than the free throw line, until a made layup from Darling Jr tied the game at 78. The very next possession, Jiles went down and drew a foul, making both free throws to give the Mariners a two point lead. Both sides once again fell to the cold streak, until Jamal Morris made two free throws of his own to tie the game up once again at 80-80, with just over 30 seconds remaining. The score remained tied until the final seconds when Darling Jr had a chance to win the game for Warner but missed the shot and sent the game into overtime tied 80-80.
In the overtime period, the Mariners were outscored 13-4 as the Royals took the victory by a final of 93-84.
Jiles and Veon were the top performers for the Mariners, scoring 24 and 22 points respectively. Veon also added 12 rebounds to give the senior a double double. Langford also finished with 16 points and nine rebounds for CCGA.
The Mariners will return home this weekend as they play host to Ave Maria University at 4 p.m.
