Coastal Carolina draws New Hampshire

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Coastal Carolina draws New Hampshire in second round of CIT



The Coastal Carolina men?s basketball team has an opponent set for its second-round matchup in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.

The Chanticleers (19-11) will host New Hampshire (20-12) on Saturday at 2 p.m. inside The HTC Center.

Coastal Carolina advanced in the 26-team tournament by defeating Mercer by a score of 65-57 Tuesday night at home for the program?s first official postseason victory.

Making their sixth postseason appearance overall in the last seven seasons, the Chants are hoping to make a deep run in the CIT, which is a collection of mid-major programs who were not selected for either the NCAA tournament or NIT.

New Hampshire, out of the America East Conference, advanced with a first-round CIT win over Fairfield, 77-62.

Junior guard Jaleen Smith led the Wildcats in that win with 22 points (including 13-of-14 from the free throw line). He averages 13.4 points per game while 6-foot-7 sophomore forward Tanner Leissner leads the team in scoring at 15.9 points per game with 7.2 rebounds per contest.

Chants coach Cliff Ellis and players are scheduled to meet with the media Friday to discuss the matchup.

 

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Whatever regrouping the Chants (19-11) had to do after an early exit in the Big South tournament to get fired up for a tertiary postseason event, it seems they?ve found their motivation ? especially after earning the first official postseason victory in program history with that 65-57 win over Mercer.

And as one of just 13 teams left from the 26-team CIT field (three teams are receiving a bye into the quarterfinals), the Chants also feel they have a real shot at making a deep run in this tournament.

?I think everybody?s excited. Everybody wants to win, and I think our focus here is to anytime you?re involved with a championship, try to get it,? coach Cliff Ellis said. ?? When you look at the teams that are involved, it?s very, very impressive. New Hampshire is an impressive team. As we win and get further, UC Irvine, they?re in this field and they could have been in the NCAA tournament. Columbia, a team that is in the Ivy league and we saw what Yale did, they are a favorite you would say. Texas-Arlington, they really had it going out of the Sun Belt. That?s a team that beat Ohio State and beat Memphis on the road. Those are teams that are out there. This thing is only going to build as it goes.?

New Hampshire (20-12), out of the America East Conference, advanced to the second round with a 77-62 win over Fairfield.

Tanner Leissner, a 6-foot-7 sophomore forward, leads the Wildcats in scoring at 15.9 points per game with 7.2 rebounds per contest, junior guard Jaleen Smith averages 13.4 points per game and 6-foot-9 sophomore forward Iba Camara averages 7.7 points and a team-high 8.8 rebounds.

?They?re a bigger team than we?re used to facing,? Shaw said. ?We?ve just got to take that challenge on and just try to take advantage of some things.?

Camara is from Dakar, Senegal, which is also where the Chants? Diagne calls home.

As for Diagne, he made his return to action Tuesday after missing three games with a partially-torn fascia in his foot and responded with nine points and eight rebounds. Ellis said the senior forward continues to improve health-wise.

?I?d say he?s gone from 65 percent to 75 percent. That?s my observation with him. Every day we get better with him,? Ellis said.

Once again, the Chants are paying a $38,500 guarantee to host this game and Ellis said the school is hoping to host as many rounds as possible if the team continues to advance.

First, though, they need to win Saturday.

?Everybody?s excited to be able to play the second round of the CIT and be able to host it here,? Ellis said. ?We?ve got an eastern matchup in New Hampshire, a team that?s won 20 games. I?m very impressed with their team with what I?ve seen on film. It?s a very quick turnaround, but they?ve got a very good inside game, they?ve got good guards and are a very impressive basketball team. But anybody you play at this point in time is good, and we?ve got to focus now on what we do and put our system against their system. I think the keys to the game are going to be what they normally are ? who can make shots, who can rebound and protect the basketball.?