Men's Basketball Loses at the Buzzer to Coker

MARS HILL, N.C. – Mars Hill lost on a buzzer beater to Coker in South Atlantic Conference men's basketball action 80-78 Saturday evening in Stanford Arena. The Lions fell to 9-17 overall and 5-15 in the league. The Cobras improved to 9-15 on the season, 5-15 in the SAC.

Patrick Monroe and Tyree Griffin led the Lions with 22 and 21 points in the contest, respectively. Justin Yeargin added 17 points, hitting 5-6 shots from behind the arc. Yeargin also recorded four rebounds and the same number of assists. Mars Hill shot 51.8% (29-56) from the floor, 45% (9-20) from 3-point range and 44% (11-25) from the foul line. MHU outrebounded the Cobras, 39-34.

Jake Barrett came off the bench to lead the Cobras with 21 points including the game winning basket. Donte Samuels followed with 14 points and five rebounds. Coker shot 45.5% (30-66) from the floor, 45% (9-20) from 3-point range and 68.8% (11-16) from the foul line. The Cobras scored 25 points off Mars Hill miscues and received 42 points from their bench.

Mars Hill opened the game on an 11-3 run to lead by eight points with 17:16 left in the first half after Monroe hit a 3-pointer. The Cobras answered outscoring the Lions 22-14 over the next nine minutes to tie the game at 25-all after Jalal Abdul-Azeez hit a shot from long range. A 10-2 run by the Lions quickly put Mars Hill back on top by eight points (35-27) with 5:28 left in the half after Griffin scored inside. The Lions held on to a six point (47-41) advantage at the intermission.

Mars Hill extended their advantage to nine points (53-44) after Monroe knocked down one of his four, 3-pointers in the loss, with 16:47 on the clock. The Cobras would not let up and went on a 24-14 run during the next 10 minutes of play to take a 68-67 lead at the 6:28 mark when Barrett hit a shot in the lane. After that point the game would see five ties and four lead changes. Two free throws by Samuels with 17 ticks left put Coker ahead 78-75. After a Lion timeout, Monroe knocked down a 3-pointer to knot the contest at 78-78 with eight seconds left in regulation. Barrett drove in the lane and let go a running jumper that after bouncing around the rim a couple times, the ball fell through the basket for the game winning score as time expired.

Mars Hill will host SAC rival Tusculum on Wednesday in Stanford Arena. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m.