BABSON PARK, Fla. (January 31, 2019) – The Warriors had a chance to take the lead with under a minute left and had a chance to tie it with only seconds remaining, but in the end the Webber International University men's basketball team was unable to finish and fell to the College of Coastal Georgia, 82-80, on Thursday night inside the Sabbagh Athletic Center.

Tied 80-80 with less than a minute left, Nicholas Blocker came up with a steal before Webber (11-14 overall, 2-11 The Sun Conference) gave the ball back to Coastal Georgia (13-11, 8-6) after a turnover of its own.

Then, with only 14 seconds left, the Mariners' Vidmantas Kaciuska connected on a tough behind-the-back step-back jumper from the elbow with the Warrior defender all over him to put Coastal Georgia ahead by two.

The Warriors, however, still had the ball with plenty of time to get a good look, and they did just that as Kevin Grace pump faked from the 3-point line and drove down the left side of the baseline for an open layup that unfortunately, rolled around the basket before just rimming out as the final buzzer sounded, dashing Webber's hopes of sending this one to overtime.

Webber had four players in double figures in scoring and was led by former high school teammates Tommie Luke and Austin Evans of William T. Dwyer High School. Luke led the Warriors in scoring with 23 points while adding five rebounds and five assists, and Evans was one rebound short of the fifth double-double of his sophomore season with 21 points while shooting an incredibly efficient 9-for-11 from the field.

Rasheem Etienne was next in scoring with 16 points, going 6-for-8 from the field with a 3-for-3 mark from 3-point range with adding four assists. With less than a minute and half left in the game, it was Etienne who hit a nice 3-pointer to tie the game at 80-80 with the Mariners' defender all over him and the shot clock winding down.

Simon Fransis also connected on three 3-pointers and finished with 13 points.

Entering the contest, Webber was second in the league in scoring at 84.6 points per game, but the Warriors were also next to last in scoring defense allowing 86 points a game, and it was the defensive effort that played out in the end as the Mariners shot over 55 percent from the field.

Since the last meeting between Webber the Coastal Georgia back on December 8, 2018, in which the Warriors won by five (84-79) in another close game, Webber has struggled with only one conference win (Jan. 5 vs. Florida Memorial University) since then.

Coastal Georgia now leads the all-time series against Webber 5-3 and is still undefeated on the road (4-0) against the Warriors.

Next up, Webber plays two straight conference road games, beginning with Thomas University at 4 p.m. on Saturday, February 2, in Thomasville, Georgia, and followed by Florida Memorial University at 8 p.m. on Thursday, February 7, in Miami Gardens, Florida.