Coleman, No. 13 Montevallo Push Past Pirates, 65-59

SAVANNAH, Ga. - No. 13-ranked Montevallo got 16 second-half points from Cecil Coleman and erased a six-point second-half deficit to come away with a 65-59 Peach Belt Conference victory over host Armstrong Atlantic on Monday evening in Savannah.

The Falcons (14-1, 4-1 PBC) notched the victory in the first-ever meeting between the new Peach Belt rivals, while the Pirates (5-10, 0-6 PBC) fell to 0-4 this season against nationally-ranked squads.

For the second time this season, the Pirates led a nationally-ranked opponent at halftime as AASU enjoyed a 32-28 advantage at the break over the Falcons. The Pirates were able to push that lead out to six on a three occasions early in the second half, the last coming on a Dawda Njie layup with 13:45 remaining to put AASU up, 41-35.

The Falcons reeled off a pair of dunks by PBC Player of the Week Gerald January over the next two minutes, tied the game on a Coleman layup and took the lead for good on two free throws from Mark Plaza with 6:56 remaining, making the score 50-48 Montevallo.

Coleman then scored the next five points to push the lead to six and the Falcons held on from there for the victory. He hit 7-of-9 shots from the floor for 20 points and made 6-of-9 free throws to lead Montevallo, while January finished the night with 13 points and eight rebounds.

Senior Patrick Shokpeka led all players in the game for the Pirates with 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the floor, to go with 11 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. Senior Keron McKenzie added 17 points.

The Pirates return to action on Wednesday, January 20, with a 7:30 p.m. Peach Belt matchup at Lander in Greenwood, S.C.

Head Coach Jeremy Luther's Post-Game Comments:

On defending Montevallo's post passing: "That's the offense they run. We worked on doubling in the post, got a lot of good hands on the ball and tips. It was effective for a while."

On the second-half stretch: "That's the tale of the season. I told everyone at the beginning of the year we'd be a 32-minute team. We get it with eight minutes left and the kids have played hard, but we don't hang on."

On the tough four-game homestand (against top six PBC teams in the standings) and improvement during the stand: "From a fan's perspective, yes, we're improved. They see our kids playing hard. But from a coach's perspective, absolutely not. Until we listen and figure out what to do, we won't win."