Coastal Carolina Survives Late Push to Beat Marshall 85-83

In a thriller, Coastal Carolina took down Marshall 85-83 in Huntington. The Chanticleers improve to 10-9 (3-4 Sun Belt), while Marshall falls to 11-7 (3-3).

The game got off to a quick yet oddly slow start, with the first media timeout coming more than eight minutes into the game. Marshall led at that break, 11-10. Both teams initially started hot offensively, but the defense late in that first stint, was huge for both sides. Coastal Carolina used its traditional deep drop coverage, forcing the Herd to take long twos they couldn’t convert, while Marshall forced several turnovers.

Both teams continued to go back and forth, but the game seemed to tilt in Coastal’s favor after Derrick Green set a hard screen on Marshall freshman Landen Joseph. Joseph would leave the game for the remainder of the contest with a potential concussion.

The Chanticleers went on a 14-6 run after that screen, extending the lead to 10 with 5:25 left to play in the first period after a massive AJ Dancler three. Marshall didn’t go away easily to end the first half, responding with a six-point unanswered run to cut the lead to four.

Coastal closed the first half with another response of its own, as threes from RaSheed Jones and Tristan Thompson helped the Chants take a 39-32 lead into the break.

Dancler led all scorers at halftime with 13 points, with his backcourt partners Jones and Josh Beadle also pitching in seven each. Wyatt Fricks and Noah Otshudi led the way for the Herd with eight points apiece, while the 7-foot-4 Matt Van Komen led all players with nine first-half rebounds.

Coming out for the second half, Coastal Carolina’s hot shooting continued, as two quick baskets saw the lead jump to double digits in less than a minute. Marshall responded with buckets of its own, both by Otshudi, but going to a zone on the next possession killed the momentum of a comeback early in the half, as Jones hit an and-one three-point shot to extend the lead back to 11 for the Chants.

The lead hovered around the seven to 13-point mark for the next eight minutes, but a Shamarie Hugie three-point play cut the lead to eight and woke up the crowd in Huntington. Jalen Speer followed that up by quickly forcing a turnover and hitting a midrange shot to cut it to six.

After the under-eight timeout, Van Komen hit two free throws to bring it to just a three point advantage for the Chants, which got the crowd fully back into the game, after it had been quiet for much of the night. However, the Herd couldn’t get many stops, as the three-point margin held steady with both sides making shots on nearly every possession.

With just over five minutes left in the game, Speer fouled out for the Herd after a massive second half with 17 points. That didn’t matter, though, as Otshudi completely took over for Marshall, cutting the lead to just two.

Otshudi eventually tied the game at 80 with just under one minute left. All the momentum was on Marshall’s side. That did not faze the Chants, as Jones found Peat for a dunk with just over 30 seconds remaining.

After free throws by Beadle and a three by Otshudi, Marshall had the ball with 7.6 seconds left, trailing 85-83. Fricks missed a three to win the game, but Caleb Hollenbeck was fouled on the tip-in with 0.3 seconds left, giving him a chance to send the game to overtime. Hollenbeck missed both free throws, and the Chants took home the 85-83 victory.

Coastal Carolina was led in scoring by Beadle and Dancler, who both finished with 26 points. Beadle took over in the second half, scoring 19 of his 26 after the break. The third guard of the three-headed monster, Jones, also chipped in 13 points. Tristan Thompson was big off the bench for the Chanticleers, scoring three points and grabbing six rebounds.

Marshall was led by Otshudi, who scored 30 points, with 22 coming in the second half. Speer also had a big game before fouling out, scoring 24 points and hitting four threes.

The Chants will look to carry this momentum into another road game Saturday, taking on Georgia Southern, a team they lost to on New Year’s Day. The Herd will look to bounce back Saturday at home, as they welcome James Madison.