Coker Upsets No. 16 Carson-Newman 68-59

HARTSVILLE, S.C. – The Coker Cobras men's basketball team upset the nationally ranked No. 16 Carson-Newman Eagles 68-59 on Saturday evening in South Atlantic Conference action. The win moves the Cobras to 3-1 overall and 1-1 in the SAC. 

The Cobras came out firing on all cylinders taking a quick 5-0 lead to get the game started. The Eagles bounced back with an 11-5 run, taking a one point lead with 12:45 left in the half. The game stayed close over the next seven minutes, until the Cobras went on a 12-4 run to close out the half and take a 35-28 lead into halftime.

Coker continued to dominate in the second half, taking as much as a 12-point lead, 42-30, with 16:38 left in the game. The Eagles trimmed the lead to just seven points with 10 minutes remaining, but thanks to some stellar defense and get rebounding, that would be as close as the Cobras would allow Carson-Newman to get. Coker held a 42-34 advantage on the boards and held the Eagles to 41.1 percent shooting from the floor and 26.7 percent from beyond the arc.

The Cobras put the nail in the coffin as they closed out the game with a monster off the backboard alley-oop dunk by Eren Moses from Errick Bethel.

Julian Nelson led the Cobras with 17 points, while Larry Felder had 12 points with seven rebounds. Sharod Williams cleaned up on the boards with 14 rebounds. He also added nine points.

Coker returns to the floor on Tuesday (Nov. 26) for a road game at Queens University of Charlotte. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.

McDonald's Player of the Game- Sharod Williams