The High Point University men's basketball team mounted a late second half rally but came up short in an 82-69 loss against Coastal Carolina on Saturday evening at Kimbel Arena.

A trio of Panther (4-9, 0-3 Big South) post players reached double-digits led by a career-best 17 point effort from freshman Steadman Short. Short also pulled down a career high 13 rebounds to post his first collegiate double-double.

Junior Cruz Daniels chipped in a season-best 15 points and sophomore Jourdan Morris matched a personal best with 13 points, including 12 during HPU's second half surge.

Coastal Carolina (7-7, 1-1 Big South) earned their fourth straight victory behind the strength of a strong first half performance. Steven Sexton paced the Chants attack with 22 points including four three-pointers. Joseph Harris finished with a 17 point, 12 rebound double-double for CCU.

The Chanticleers seized control in the opening half after blistering the nets at a 69.2 percent (18-of-26) clip. Coastal also connected on 6 of 10 three-point attempts in the first period. HPU hit just one of nine shots from long distance and finished the half with a 37 percent shooting percentage from the floor (10-of-27).

After an evenly played first few minutes, CCU used a 10-3 run to earn a slight advantage. The deficit stayed consistent over the next several minutes before Coastal Carolina closed the half with a 25-7 surge taking a 50-26 lead into the halftime break. One positive note for the Panthers was the play of post duo Short and Daniels, who accounted for 15 of the squad's final 16 points of the first half.

CCU kept up their torrid pace to start the second half building their lead to 30 points, 60-30, with 14:59 to play. From there, High Point turned up the defensive intensity and clawed their way back into the game with an 18-4 run. Dave Campbell drilled a three to start the run with Daniels scoring six points and Morris adding four in the surge. David Singleton capped the rally with a jumper at the 8:50 mark to pull HPU to within 16 at 64-48.

Minutes later Eugene Harris drilled a three-pointer to close the Panther deficit to 14 and twice down the stretch HPU got as close as 13, but the Chanticleers made enough free throws and baskets to hold onto the victory.

High Point outscored Coastal 43-32 in the second half and held a 35-39 advantage in rebounding.

The Panthers will now conclude their current three-game road swing at Big South rival Winthrop on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. in Rock Hill, S.C.