HARTSVILLE, S.C. – The Coker Cobras erased a 12-point halftime deficit with a dominating second half performance to defeat the Benedict Tigers 91-87 on Tuesday (Dec. 3) night. The win improves the Cobras to 4-2 on the year.
Benedict jumped out to an early lead taking advantage of hot shooting, the Tigers hit 55.9 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range in the first half. They also benefited from an 18-10 advantage on the boards, scoring 11 second chance points to take a 47-35 lead into halftime.
The Cobras came out ready to play in the second half, putting together a 24-12 run to tie the game at 59 with 12:34 left in the game. Coker took its largest lead of the game, 68-61, after a 9-2 run with 10:39 remaining. The Tigers evened the game at 73 with the just under six minutes left. They held the advantage until the three-minute mark when Julian Nelson tied the game at 78 with an old fashioned three-point play. The Cobras closed out the game knocking down 10 of 12 free throws to earn a 91-87 victory.
Julian Nelson led all scorers with 21 points. He also had five rebounds and a pair of assists. Nelson is now just 22 points shy of 1,000 career points. Trey Marshall recorded 20 points and dished out four assists, while Eren Moses had 11 points with four rebounds. Teon Beckett was the fourth Cobra to score in double figures adding 10 points. Sharod Williams led the Cobras on the boards with 10 rebounds. He also added seven points and three assists. Williams is now only three rebounds short of 500 career rebounds and is now fifth all-time in rebounds at Coker with 497.
The Cobras will return to the hardwood on Saturday (Dec. 7) for a South Atlantic Conference game against the Railsplitters of Lincoln Memorial. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. following the women's game at 2 p.m.
McDonald's Player of the Game – Julian Nelson