Men's Basketball Loses at Coker

HARTSVILLE, S.C. – Mars Hill's men's basketball squad fell to Coker 98-85 on the road in the DeLoach Center. The Lions dropped to 2-9 overall and 0-5 in the South Atlantic Conference. The Cobras improved to 6-6 on the season, 3-1 in the league.

Nassyr Daniel recorded a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Lions. He shot 80% (8-10) from the floor in the contest and added four blocks. Daniel is second in the SAC in blocks per game. Justen Hartfield scored 18 points and pulled down eight boards while Austin Gilyard tallied 15 points and the same number of rebounds. Bennett Wilson finished with 13 points and four assists while Vernon Jackson rounded out the double-digit scorers for the Lions with 11 markers. MHU shot 48.5% (32-66) from the floor, 42.9% (6-14) from three-point range and 57.7% (15-26) from the foul line.

Donte Samuels led all scorers with 23 points followed by Jake Barrett with 21. Samuels hauled in 14 rebounds to notch a double-double. Larry Cooper also recorded a double-double with 14 points and 12 boards. Coker connected on 45.6% (36-79) of their shots from the floor, 29.6% (8-27) of their attempts from behind the arc and 72% (18-25) of their free throw attempts. The Cobras out rebounded MHU, 50-38. Coker scored 31 points off Lion turnovers and tallied 23 second chance points.

The first half saw four lead changes and seven ties before the Cobras took a four-point (45-41) lead into the locker room at halftime. Barrett converted an old fashioned three-point play with 4:31 left in the first period to give Coker a 10-point advantage (36-26). Mars Hill answered outscoring the Cobras 15-9 to close out the first stanza and trim the deficit to 45-41.

Coker began the second half on a 13-6 run capped off by a jumper from LaDarius Williams to give Coker an 11-point lead (58-47) with 14:59 on the clock. A three-pointer by Marquis Green put the Cobras up by 18 points (75-57) with 10:57 left in the contest. The Lions then stormed back going on a 19-7 run to cut the lead to just six points (82-76) with 6:25 left in regulation after Daniel completed a three-point play of his own. Unfortunately, the Cobras put the game away outscoring the Lions 16-9 down the stretch to make the final tally 98-85 in favor of the hosts.

Mars Hill will return to action on December 30, when they play at Kentucky Wesleyan. Tip-off in Owensboro, Ky., is set for 2 p.m.