On Feb. 12, Anthony Raffa and the rest of the Coastal Carolina basketball team gathered in a hotel room in Rock Hill, S.C. Only a few hours stood between the team and its game against Big South rival Winthrop.

Yet the players sat around the television, absorbed by what they were watching.

Ohio State, the team with the longest active winning streak in the country, was in trouble against Wisconsin. And the Buckeyes’ loss meant the team with the second-longest active winning streak in basketball would now be on top. The clock hit zero. The Buckeyes fell 71-67.

And Coastal Carolina took over the title of the nation’s longest winning streak.

‘We were all rooting for Wisconsin down the stretch,’ Raffa said. ‘Their comeback was just amazing, how they did it. They didn’t get down on themselves, and they just dug it out. We were just like, ‘Oh my God, this is going to be crazy. We’re now the longest winning streak in the country going into tonight’s game.”

The Chanticleers (24-3) then went out and defeated Winthrop to extend their winning streak to 22.

But they never made it to 23.

On Tuesday, in a game against one of the weakest teams in the conference in Gardner-Webb, Coastal Carolina lost 59-57, concluding the streak after only three days in the spotlight.

‘I don’t think the streak had anything to do with it. We just got outplayed,’ associate head coach Don Hogan said.

This loss blew an opportunity for the program, which was moving its way toward the Top 25 by earning 32 votes in the last poll. The game Tuesday was also an opportunity to clinch the No. 1 spot in the Big South, thus securing home-court advantage throughout the conference tournament. But although the loss snaps the streak, the team remains at the top of its conference and could still make the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1993.

Despite being the better team on paper, Coastal Carolina was unable to ever get a handle on Tuesday’s game. Gardner-Webb kept the game close by pounding the ball inside all night.

Raffa knew being in the spotlight could end up being a problem for his team.

‘I think there’s a target on our backs,’ Raffa said before the loss. ‘People want to be the ones to break our winning streak.’

Gardner-Webb was that team. The lead changed 12 times over the course of the game, and down the stretch, the Runnin’ Bulldogs fouled effectively and pulled just far enough ahead to keep Coastal Carolina from closing the gap.

It was Coastal Carolina’s first loss since an 80-61 trouncing on Nov. 18 by then-No. 20 Georgetown. The Hoyas were the only ranked team the Chanticleers faced all year. Sophomore forward Sam McLaurin said the game was much closer than the score reflected and that actually became a confidence booster.

‘We learned that we can compete with anybody,’ McLaurin said. ‘We competed with that team throughout the whole game. The thing that separated us from them in that game was that they just hit a lot of 3s.’

Georgetown’s dominance from outside the arc — the Hoyas went 14-for-30 — simply served to focus the Chanticleers for the rest of the season. Head coach Cliff Ellis has made defense a priority.

Raffa said good shooting can come from work in between practices, but defense consumed most of practice time.

‘Defense wins championships, and that’s what we’ve been preaching all year,’ Raffa said. ‘If we play defense, we’re going to be in the game. Obviously, the offensive end’s going to come because we can manufacture points in any which way.’

Going ahead, Hogan said the team will continue to work on its defense. The Chanticleers are three games into a stretch in which they play four games in a week. After Thursday’s game against North Carolina Central, Hogan said the Chanticleers will have some practice time to work on weaknesses from Tuesday.

The main purpose of the practice time will be to tighten up the defense to prevent opponents from getting any easy opportunities, Hogan said.

But for now, Coastal Carolina has secured at least a few home games in the Big South tournament. The team is already a favorite in the tournament, and if it wins, it is guaranteed a spot in the NCAA tournament.

Even with the streak over, the players know they did something special.

Said Raffa: ‘I’ve never been on a team in my life that’s won 22 games in a row. Ever.’

alguggen@syr.edu