CONWAY, S.C.-The Presbyterian College men's basketball team fell on the road to league-leading Coastal Carolina by a score of 60-42.  The Blue Hose were unable to overcome a nine-point first half deficit and the Chanticleers come away with the victory.

PC was led by Khalid Mutakabbir's (Suwanee, Ga. / Peachtree Ridge H.S.) 16 points and nine rebounds.  Josh Johnson (Hendersonville, Tenn. / Hendersonville H.S.) chipped in six points, all of which came in the second half.  Coastal Carolina was led by Chad Gray's 19 points, and Sam McLaurin tied Mutakabbir with nine rebounds.  The Blue Hose shot 31.5 percent from the field to Coastal's 47.8 percent.  The Chants also outrebounded PC, 38-26.  PC falls to 8-11 overall and 2-5 in conference action, while Coastal remains at the top of the Big South with a perfect 7-0 record and advance to 16-2 overall.

Coastal took an early 2-0 lead in the game with a field goal at 17:52, but both teams struggled to find the basket as the score remained unchanged for the next two minutes until Pierre Miller's (Warner Robbins, Ga. / Warner Robbins H.S.) three pointer at 15:51 put PC on the board. 

The Chanticleers then went on an 8-0 run to take a 10-3 lead at the 13:36 mark.  Jake Troyli's (Largo, Fla. / Pinellas Park H.S.) jumper then cut Coastal's lead to five points, and the teams again traded possessions but the score stayed the same until a layup by CCU at 11:02.  Trailing 15-7 with 7:43 left in the half, PC was able to get within six points when Johnson found Miller for the layup.

Coastal was able to extend its lead to as many as 14 points in the last two minutes of the first half, but Walt Allen's (London, Ky. / South Laurel H.S.) layup at 1:03 made the score 27-15, and PC was able to hold the Chants for the final minute.  Mutakabbir hit a big three pointer as time expired to pull PC back within single digits.  Coastal only took a 27-18 lead into the locker room at half time.

The Chanticleers opened the second half with five unanswered points before a three pointer by Mutakabbir made the score32-21.  PC again cut the lead down to single digits when Mutakabbir followed up with a field goal with 17 minutes remaining in the game, to give Coastal a 32-23 advantage.

The Blue Hose continued their scoring run, and used a jumper by Troyli at 16:27 to close the gap even more to 32-25.  Coastal, however, answered with a 12-3 scoring run of its own over the next seven minutes to extend the lead to 44-28 with under ten minutes left.  PC's Ryan Hargrave (Taylorsville, N.C. / Alexander Central H.S.) hit a three pointer in the midst of the Chanticleer's run at 12:29, but the home team remained in the control.

Coastal would extend its advantage to as many as 20 points before Johnson's first basket of the game brought the score to 52-35 at the 6:02 mark.  The Blue Hose continued to fight down the stretch, using another field goal from Johnson and a layup by freshman Josh Clyburn (Charlotte, N.C. / Victory Christian Center School) to keep the Chants in check, but lost 60-42.

The Blue Hose return home to face back-to-back conference opponents.  PC faces High Point on Thursday, Jan. 20 and then takes on Radford on Saturday, Jan. 22.  Both games are set to start at 7 p.m.