"Tough game against an opponent that has a great chance to make it to the NCAA tourney," Head Coach Lewis Jackson said.  "I thought we did a lot of good things, but just not enough down the stretch and their guy hit a great off balance shot as Ro was all over him on."
 
The Hornets did not shoot the ball very well in the second half (29%) as Coastal was able to make up a four-point deficit and went on to lead by as many seven points (55-48) with less than 10 minutes left.
 
ASU came all the way back to even the score at 64 on a Torloft Thomas field goal with 1:45 left in the game.  Following a free throw from CCU's Badou Diagne the host led 65-64 with 1:23 left.
 
The Hornets worked the clock down, but missed a field goal.  The rebound went off CCU and ASU got the ball back.  From there ASU ran the clock down and Thomas drove to the basket with 11 seconds left where he was fouled.  He hit one of two free throws to even the score and set up the final hectic seconds which Shaw got off his shot for the win.
 
"We had our chances," Jackson said.  "We took some bad shots there at the end of the game and we could have gotten better shots if we had been more patient.  I thought we did a good job for the most part, but we still need to learn to become more patient."
 
Jamel Waters had his usual strong game finishing with 11 points and a game-high seven assists, four rebounds and a steal.
 
ASU finished the game shooting 40 percent from the field, and hit eight of its 23 three point attempts for 35 percent.  ASU did not get to the free throw line as many times as CCU did, but they did hit 11 of their 14 attempts for 79 percent.
 
Shivaughn Wiggins and Elijah Wilson led CCU with 13 points each.  Diagne and Ron Trapps each had 11 points each as they finished the game shooting 42 percent.
 
CCU hit 12 of its 19 (63%) free throws and hit six of 25 (24%) of their three point attempts.
 
Butler scored 11 points in the opening 20 minutes to lead ASU to a 35-31 halftime lead.  ASU shot 50 percent from the field, but had seven turnovers that hurt them in the half.
 
The host shot 39 percent from the field and Wilson scored nine points to lead CCU in the opening half.
 
The Hornets have one more road game before they Christmas break when they play at Winthrop Dec. 22 in Rock Hill, S.C.  It will be an early tip for the game as it is scheduled for a 11 a.m. start.