Brunswick, Ga. -- The College of Coastal Georgia men's basketball team opened the 2026-2027 season in resounding fashion, topping Columbia International University 87-71 Saturday evening at Howard Coffin Gym. Consider it a continuation from the end of last year, when the Mariners upended 9th ranked Keiser 95-90 to close out their schedule.
"I thought the attention to detail and the focus was really good, especially in the second half. I thought guys were ready to play. Obviously coming off preseason and what not, you want your team to look ready, you want your team to be aggressive and fiery and I thought we were those things. I thought tonight the guys came out ready to play. Every single guy that we played, I think one through nine or ten, was ready to roll. I was really pleased with that," explained head coach
Tim MacAllister. "I was pleased with the defensive effort, something that we really focused on in the last month or two."
It was an impressive start of year two of the MacAllister era, with CCGA building an early lead and controlling the contest throughout. The Mariners led the Rams by 20 points at halftime.
Coastal Georgia had five players, all upperclassmen, score in double figures: junior
Thaddeus Burns (19), senior
Kaden McArthur (19), senior
Caiden Punt (14), senior
Khylan McKennie (12), senior
Alex Zambonetti (11). Junior
Jason Okonta added five rebounds.
Offensively, Coastal Georgia was in a mid-season rhythm already. The Mariners shot nearly 44% from the floor and over 39% from three-point range. Coastal Georgia's 87 points was a step forward from last season's already notable average of 81.2 points per game.
Next up for Coastal Georgia is a Halloween home game with Andrew College, set for 3:00pm Saturday, October 31st at Howard Coffin Gym.
