Photo by Emiliano Ceballos | Sports Photographer

Junior guard #0 Caleb Fields slamming a dunk on a Coastal Carolina defender.

Brayden Morse | Sports Editor

The Arkansas State men’s basketball team snapped their 10-game losing streak by beating Coastal Carolina 73-57.

For the first two and a half minutes, no one scored. Finally, a free-throw by Coastal Carolina junior guard #0 Kylan Blackman made it 1-0 with 18:34. 

After that, it was a back and forth game. The Red Wolves ended up leading at halftime 28-24 due to first-year guard #11 Terrance Ford Jr. knocking down three three-point shots. 

The second half was a lot similar to the first. A back and forth game until A-State got up 36-30, with that score remaining the same from 16:20 to 14:38. Almost two minutes without anyone scoring. Obviously great defense took place in this situation. 

With 13:04 left in the game, a free-throw made by senior forward #22 Omar El-Sheikh gave the Red Wolves a 10-point advantage, with a score of 43-33. After that, the lead and momentum took off for this team. 

“Very proud of my guys in the stretch of adversity the last four weeks. It has been a tough month. What hurts me is the effort that they are putting in everyday is spectacular and I am trying to keep them positive,” Head Coach Mike Balado said. 

The heart and savior of this team and in this game was junior guard #0 Caleb Fields. He finished with a team-leading 19 points, three assists and was 6-10 from field-goal range. 

“It feels good to win. We have not done it in a while, so it feels great,” Fields said. 

Ford Jr. and El-Sheikh both finished with 16 points. Ford Jr. also led the team with eight rebounds. 

“Each game I am getting better and better. To come in and get a win makes it feel like we got our swagger back,” Ford Jr. said. 

As a team, A-State shot 22-50 (44.0%) from field-goal range, 8-23 (34.8%) from three-point range, had 31 rebounds and 11 assists. 

Arkansas State will travel to play Texas State on Thursday at 7 p.m. on ESPN+. The Bobcats, who are 11-14, have an 80.3% chance of winning according to ESPN Analytics. The Red Wolves have a chance to improve their winning streak and defy the odds. 

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