Appalachian State closes out regular season with win against Coastal Carolina

Craig Hinton scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Appalachian State beat Coastal Carolina 76-67 on Saturday in a regular-season finale.

Hinton was 7 of 10 from the floor including three from distance for the Mountaineers (14-17, 9-9 Sun Belt Conference), who finish the regular season tied with Louisiana-Monroe for sixth place in the Sun Belt. Griffin Kinney added 18 points and eight rebounds, Ronshad Shabazz had 11 points and Tyrell Johnson 10.

Hinton drained three 3-pointers in the first half to help Appalachian State to a 38-33 advantage at the break.

The Mountaineers opened the second half on a 16-9 run that included a Shabazz 3-pointer to lead 54-42 with 12:32 to play. Coastal Carolina cut it to 64-60 with 5:41 remaining but could not get closer.

Jaylen Shaw and Tyrell Gumbs-Frater scored 13 points apiece for the Chanticleers (14-17, 8-10). Zac Cuthbertson added 10 points and nine boards.

Elsewhere

Virginia Union 73, Bowie State 57: The top-seeded Panthers (27-2) rolled to their fourth CIAA women’s tournament championship at the Spectrum Center behind a game-high 28 points from Rachael Pecota, who also pulled down 10 rebounds. Alexis Johnson added 21 points with a game-high 18 rebounds and was named the tournament’s MVP. Rejoice Spivey dished out eight assists for the Panthers, who never trailed.

Kyah Proctor led the Bulldogs (20-9) with 22 points. Kiara Colston added 13 points. Bowie State shot just 18.8 percent from the floor in the first half.

Panthers freshman guard Shareka McNeill, a former Harding star, scored three points Saturday and made the all-tournament team along with teammates Pecota and Johnson. Her twin sister, Shameka McNeill scored five points Saturday.

No. 5 Queens 92, Carson-Newman 73: The Royals (28-2) dominated the Eagles (23-7), never trailing, to advance to the South Atlantic Conference championship for the second straight year.

Shaun Willett recorded his third double-double of the season with 17 points and 11 rebounds to lead Queens. Ike Agusi added 14 points, four rebound, and four assists. Daniel Carr recorded 13 points and four assists. Jalin Alexander and Lewis Diankulu scored 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Queens will play Lincoln Memorial Sunday at 4 p.m. in Greenville, S.C., for the SAC title. The Royals defeated the Railsplitters in last year's championship, winning 75-72, but Lincoln Memorial has beaten Queens twice this season.

No. 1 Lincoln Memorial 76, Wingate 46: Trevon Shaw scored 15 points as the Railsplitters (29-1), the No. 1 men’s team in Division II, beat the Bulldogs (15-15) in Greenville, S.C., to advance to the South Atlantic Conference championship. Neico Robinson led Wingate with 13 points. Sunday at 4 p.m., Lincoln Memorial plays Queens for the SAC title.

Late Friday

Davidson 63, No. 17 Rhode Island 63: The Wildcats (18-11, 13-5 Atlantic 10) scored the final nine points to stun the 17^th-ranked Rams in their A-10 regular-season finale at Belk Arena. Jon Axel Gudmundsson’s three-point play with 3.1 seconds won it for Davidson. Rhode Island (23-6, 15-3) led 61-54 before going the final 2 ½ minutes scoreless. Wildcats senior Peyton Aldridge had his sixth consecutive double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Freshman guard Kellan Grady added 16 points.

Radford 61, Winthrop 52: Carlik Jones had 16 points and six steals as the second-seeded Highlanders (21-12) beat the No. 3 seed Eagles (19-12) in a Big South Tournament semifinal at Radford, Va. Winthrop senior Xavier Cooks had 13 points and nine rebounds and Adam Pickett added 13 points. The Highlanders will host fifth-seed Liberty (20-13), which upset top-seeded UNC Asheville (21-12) 69-64 in Friday’s other semifinal, on Sunday at 1 p.m. for the Big South title and a trip to the NCAA tournament.

This story was originally published March 3, 2018 at 7:08 PM with the headline "Appalachian State closes out regular season with win against Coastal Carolina."