HARTSVILLE, S.C. – Vatrick Thompson’s 25 points and a near triple-double from Mason Ambler led the Coker Cobras to a 86-80 win over the Barton Bulldogs on Monday night at Timberlake-Lawton Gymnasium. The Conference Carolinas victory improves the Coker men to 7-9 overall, and 4-6 in the conference, while Barton falls to 11-6 overall, and 7-3 in the conference.

An extremely close game the entire 40 minutes, there were just five lead changes and 10 ties, including a 35-35 tie at halftime. But it was a 51 point second half, 77.3 percent free throw shooting (17-for-22) and 11 three-pointers that proved to be the difference makers in the Cobras victory.

Although the Bulldogs scored 27 points off 16 Cobra turnovers, Coker had tremendous productivity from their bench, garnering 42 points, compared to Barton’s 11 points off the bench.

Thompson (Columbia, S.C.) scored a game high 25 points, including going 4-for-5 from beyond the arc, while Ambler (Atlanta, Ga.) had 16 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists. Delonte Doles (Roswell, Ga.) had 12 points, all of which came from three-point range, with Michael Gore (Landis, N.C.) also netting 12 points for the Cobras.

Barton’s Eddie Kershaw (Youngstown, Ohio) had 23 points and six rebounds to lead the way and Jaren Haley (Woodbridge, Va.) scored 22 points. Jarrett Jernigan (Virginia Beach, Va.) was the third Bulldogs in double figures with 15 points.

Coker’s victory over Barton, marks their first win against the Bulldogs in nearly eight years and is their second win in as many games.

Both teams return to the court later this week, with Coker traveling to Erskine College on Thursday for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off and Barton hosting Lees-McRae on Saturday at 4:00 p.m.