Radford Falls at Coastal Carolina

CONWAY, S.C. -- Coastal Carolina scored 48 second half points to defeat Radford 79-61 Monday night in a Big South Conference game at Kimbel Arena.

Coastal (9-14, 6-5 Big South) dominated the offensive glass in the second half, grabbing 13 to gain 21 second chance points. Freshman Jack Leasure, who had six in the first half, got hot after intermission, scoring 22, hitting five 3-pointers. He also had four assists. Alvin Green joined Leasure in double figures with 14 points, Pele Paelay had 12 points and nine rebounds and Noah Nichols scored 10. Clint Nagel had eight rebounds for CCU. It marked the first time this season the Chants have won a game when Paelay has scored less than 12 points.

It was Radford’s second consecutive loss at Coastal Carolina and first regular season loss since the 1997-98 season. The Highs dropped last season’s Big South Tournament opener, snapping RU’s six-game winning streak at Kimbel.

Senior Brandon Jeffers and sophomore Chris Oliver each scores 17 points to lead RU with XX. Oliver paced the Highs on the glass, grabbing six boards. RU shot 50 percent from the field.

The Highlanders (10-12, 5-5 Big South) jumped out to an early lead in the first half pulling ahead by as many as eight before Coastal was able to tie the score at 31 on a pair of free throws heading into halftime.

The Highlanders will take a week off before returning home for a Valentine’s Day tilt Feb. 14 against in-state rival VMI. Tip-off is set for 7:00 pm. Coastal heads to High Point Saturday for a 3:30 pm game versus the Panthers.