Mostafa, Coastal Carolina upset South Carolina 80-56

Dec 1, 2021, 09:50 pm

CONWAY, S.C. -- — Essam Mostafa had 23 points and 13 rebounds and Coastal Carolina pulled away in the second half to upset South Carolina 80-56 on Wednesday night.

It was Coastal Carolina's first win against a Power Five opponent since beating Utah early in the 2019-20 season.

The Chanticleers had a one-point halftime lead and opened the second on a 24-4 run and cruised from there. Mostafa scored 12 points during the stretch.

Mostafa, a sophomore center from Cairo, Egypt, was 6 of 13 from the field and 11-of-16 shooting at the free-throw line. He entered averaging 18.5 points and 10.5 rebounds while shooting 50% from the field. It was his third double-double of the season.

South Carolina pulled to 64-52 with 8:21 remaining. Mustafa's layup and consecutive dunks from Vince Cole and Wilfried Likayi pushed the Chanticleer's lead to 18 with 4:42 to play.

Rudi Williams added 19 points and six assists for the Chanticleers (3-2). Cole finished with 16 points.

Erik Stevenson scored 12 points and Jacobi Wright had 12 for the Gamecocks (5-2), which ended a four-game win streak while playing in Conway for the first time. The Gamecocks shot 19% (6 of 32) from the floor and had nine turnovers in the second half.

South Carolina forward Josh Gray was ejected with 1.6 seconds remaining in the game for shoving a CCU player.

Coast Carolina beat the Gamecocks for the second time — an 88-74 victory in Columbia in 1993.

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