MARS HILL, N.C. – The Coker College men's basketball team picked up a 76-68 win on Monday evening (Jan. 9) in a South Atlantic Conference road matchup against the Mars Hill University Lions.
Coker came out of the gates knocking down consecutive threes to take an early 6-0 lead. Mars Hill worked it back to an 8-8 game at the 17:20 mark in the opening half. The remainder of the half saw both teams go back and forth, with Coker twice taking five-point advantages. However, Mars Hill held Coker to just five points in the final 6:29, while scoring 12 points of its own, to take a 36-34 lead going into the locker rooms at the half.
Coker came out of the gates hot, taking a 51-45 lead with 13:38 left in the second half. Both sides continued to trade buckets, with Mars Hill making it a 61-60 game, in favor of Coker with 6:51 left. An 8-0 response by the Navy and Gold pushed the Cobras out to a 69-60 advantage with 4:21 left. Mars Hill closed the deficit to four points at the 1:26 mark, however, it was Coker knocking down four of six free throws down the stretch to capture the South Atlantic Conference win.
Four Cobras finished in double figures in the scoring column, with Jake Barrett leading the way with 17 points. JaQuez Motley finished with 13 points, while Roman Hall finished with 11 points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals. Jalal Abdul-Azeez rounded out the double-digit scorers, notching 11 points and six rebounds off the bench.
The Cobras will have a short turnaround, traveling to Newberry on Wednesday (Jan. 11) to take on the Wolves. Opening tip is set for 8 p.m.