Cobras Close Out Regular Season with Come from Behind Victory Over Belmont Abbey

HARTSVILLE, S.C. – In their final home game of the season, the Cobra men's basketball team went out in style, coming from behind to defeat the Belmont Abbey Crusaders, 86-81 in Conference Carolinas action Friday (March 1) night. The win moves the Cobras to 13-13 on the year and 10-10 in league play.

After trailing 44-40 at halftime, the Cobras put up 46 points in the second half and held the Crusader to just 37 to take home the win. Larry Felder was the catalyst for victory as he scored 11 points in the final three minutes, including converting two and one layups, one tied the game at 68 with 3:43 remaining and the other put the Cobras ahead 78-73 with 1:20 left in the game.

Belmont Abbey battled down the stretch, cutting the lead to just four points, 83-79, thanks a Jay Council 3-pointer with 23 seconds left. Felder stretched the Coker lead to five with a free throw seven seconds later, but the Crusaders' Chris Davis found a hole through the lane and made a layup with eight seconds left to make it a 84-81 ball game. On the ensuing inbound play, Andrew Morris dished a long pass to Sharod Williams who capped off the night with a monster dunk, giving the Cobras the 86-81 victory.

Felder finished the night with 16 points and eight rebounds, while Julian Nelson scored a team-high 26. Seniors Morris and Williams both scored in double figures in their final game at Timberlake-Lawton. Morris finished with 15 points, going 5-of-10 from 3-point range, while Williams dropped 11 points and pulled down eight rebounds.

As a team the Cobras shot an astounding 52.7 percent from the field and they were 10-for-22 (45.5 percent) from long range. Forty-nine of their 86 points came off the bench and they scored 26 points in the paint.

Coker will be back on the floor again on Monday (March 4) for the first round of the Conference Carolinas Men's Basketball Tournament. The Cobras are the #8 seed in the tournament and they will face the #1 seed Barton Bulldogs at Barton at 7 p.m. Coker split their regular season series with Barton, defeating the Bulldogs in triple overtime, 94-90 on Feb. 6. Live stats and video of the game will be available online at www.cokercobras.com.

McDonald's Player of the Game- Larry Felder