MOBILE, Ala. – Coastal Carolina came back from a 16-point deficit in the first half to outlast the University of South Alabama men's basketball team in overtime 81-77 Monday night at the Mitchell Center.

The Chanticleers – led by former USA head coach Cliff Ellis – win for the fifth time in seven games to go to 14-14 overall and 9-6 in the Sun Belt Conference. The Jaguars drop to 13-14 and 6-8.

"I'm obviously disappointed in the outcome of the game," USA head coach Matthew Graves said. "I really think it was a tale of two halves. We came out in the first half really aggressive and attacked in the paint, played inside out basketball and did some really good things moving the ball around. We rebounded the ball at a good rate in the first half. We knew that was going to be a challenge, Coastal Carolina is a really good rebounding team.

"In the second half, we got really flat and complacent in the second half. We had a lot of standing and didn't have enough movement and over-dribbled. It was frustrating and we never got back into a rhythm. They absolutely destroyed us off the offensive glass in the second half. They were a lot quicker to the ball and made a lot of game-winning plays. We didn't and that's frustrating."

Coastal Carolina outscored South Alabama 43-29 in the second half, despite shooting just 38.1 percent after halftime, because they won the rebounding battle 30-15, including 15 offensive boards, leading to nine points.

CCU's game totals of 51 rebounds and 20 offensive boards are the most by a USA opponent this season.

"It was extra possessions for them and it was a couple crucial putbacks," Graves noted. "It's deflating when you guard for 20-25 seconds and they shoot, miss, rebound, shoot, miss, rebound. It's deflating and it wears on you because you're spending all of your time guarding."

The Jaguars used a 19-3 run to take a 39-23 lead with 20 seconds left in the first half, but Elijah Wilson hit a jumper to close out the half, and the Chanticleers used a 10-2 run to start the second period to pull within six.

USA went up 11 on three separate occasions, the final time with 9:59 left after a three-point play from junior Shaq Calhoun (Rome, Ga.). CCU went on another 10-2 run to pull within three, then tied the score at 61-61 with 3:35 left.

"To start the second half we didn't rebound the ball," Graves said. "I think in the first minute there were three fouls called in the second half. We weren't moving our feet and weren't as active in the second half. That other run they got loose and hit two big 3s. They did a really good job of finding their shooters and spots and were moving without the ball really well."

The Jags scored five in a row, but the Chants answered with seven unanswered to take their first lead since the first four minutes of the contest with 28.5 seconds left. However, Jaguar freshman Trhae Mitchell (Austell, Ga.) hit a layup with 6.2 seconds on the clock to send the game into overtime.

South Alabama briefly held the lead in the early going after a three-point play from senior Ken Williams (Houston, Texas), but Georgi Boyanov's (Lovech, Bulgaria) dunk with 2:55 left would be the Jags' last field goal of the game, as the Chanticleers closed with an 8-4 run and forced three turnovers the rest of the way.

"The locker room was really tough tonight," Graves stated. "It's getting to crunch time here at the end of the season. Every game matters, but with five games to go, this was a crucial game to try and go up in the standings and solidify a position. It doesn't really matter if you're the six, seven, eight seed, it's irrelevant. You want to be playing your best basketball and it felt like in the first half we did a lot of good things. It unfortunately unraveled in the second half. You have to give them a lot of credit, they kept driving it and forcing us to make plays. We just didn't get enough of those 50-50 balls and rebound enough. That was certainly the difference in the game."

Williams recorded the first double-double of his career with 17 points and a personal-best 10 rebounds. Boyanov and Mitchell had 13 points apiece – a career high for Mitchell – and senior Don MuepoKelly (Fontana, Calif.) had 11.

For Coastal Carolina, Elijah led all players with 21 points. Colton Ray-St. Cyr (15 points, 16 rebounds) and Demario Beck (18 and 14) each had a double-double, and Jaylen Shaw added 10 points and a game-high seven assists.

The Jaguars embark on their final road trip of the regular season this weekend, starting Saturday at Texas-Arlington.

NOTES: Ellis is 5-1 against South Alabama at Clemson, Auburn and Coastal Carolina… South Alabama is 5-8 in overtime games under Graves, and 32-49 all time… MuepoKelly has at least one block and steal in each of his last seven games… USA fell to 10-4 when outshooting its opponent, 10-2 when leading with five minutes left and 4-11 when posting a negative assist/turnover ratio… Williams moved into eighth on USA's career field goal list with 529… He has scored 10 or more points in 12 consecutive games, the longest streak by a Jaguar this season… Boyanov is averaging 12.5 points and 8.0 rebounds, and shooting 69.2 percent from the floor in his last two games; he scored 17 points total in his previous six outings… MuepoKelly has reached double-digit points four times in his last five games, and is averaging 11.4 points with a 56.4 shooting percentage in that span… Mitchell tied his career high with three blocks… CCU's 39.7 shooting percentage is the lowest by a USA opponent in a win… The Jags' 14-point advantage at halftime was the team's second double-digit lead of the season, and biggest vs. a Division I opponent.

The 2017 Sun Belt Conference Men's and Women's Basketball Championships are scheduled for a week of March Madness in the Big Easy.  New Orleans will once again be home to the two championships that will take place at Lakefront Arena from March 7-12 and ticket books can now be purchased from your school's ticket office.  For more information, visit the Sun Belt Conference's championship central websites - Men's Championship – Women's Championship – and be sure to follow the #FunBelt on social media - @SunBelt.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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