— By David Walsh
Marshall’s offense consisted of a two-man attack Saturday, but Coastal Carolina’s foul shooting over the final 10 minutes allowed the Chanticleers to prevail in the Sun Belt Conference matinee, 79-75, at the HTC Center in Conway, S.C.
The Thundering Herd trailed at 50-40 with just over 10 minutes to play, and from that point, Coastal Carolina would make 19-of-22 free throws to hang on and claim the regular season sweep over Marshall on Senior Day.
“Just ran out of gas,” Herd coach Corny Jackson said on postgame radio. “We played five games in 10 days. I’m proud of the guys. We had to overcome a lot of adversity. We fought to the end.”
Marshall was to within three at 78-75 on a basket by Speer with 20 seconds left.
“We had a chance at the end,” Jackson said. “We played some percentages and fouled (Peat made 1 of 2 with 1:14 left and Tristan Thompson missed two with 29 seconds to play).”
Beadle was fouled with 7 seconds left and made 1-of-2 attempts to set the score.
Marshall’s output would come from guards Jalen Speer and Noah Otshudi, but not necessarily by design. Illness among the team and coaches, plus foul trouble, limited the production. Speer finished with a career-high 39 points and Otshudi added 18. No other Marshall player scored more than six.
Coastal Carolina’s three-guard attack produced as it has all season. RaSheed Jones led with 29 points and went 9 of 9 at the foul line. Joshua Beadle totaled 18 points and converted 9-of-10 free throws. Nadjrick Peat came off the bench to record 13 points and 13 rebounds and A.J. Dancler scored 10.
Marshall (18-11, 10-6 Sun Belt) made 16-of-18 free throws, including 15 of 15 in the second half. The Chanticleers converted 24 of 34 from the free-throe line, including 21 of 29 in the second half to keep the Herd at bay.
Jackson indicated up to eight or nine players, support staff members and coaches battled a virus on the trip.
In the first half, Coastal Carolina (17-12, 9-7) had five threes to one for the Herd, the top three-point shooting team in the league. Marshall missed its first five before Speer connected.
The Chanticleers opened the game on a 7-0 run. With 10:03 left in the half, Jackson received a technical when he inched onto the floor on the sideline and a Coastal Carolina player bounced the ball off him.
Coastal Carolina went on a 9-0 run to open a 29-15 lead when Jones nailed a three-pointer with 4:35 left in the half. The lead stayed in double digits when Jones hit another three just before the half ended for a 36-24 lead.
Speer had half of his team’s scoring output at halftime and poured in 27 in the second half.
Beadle added nine on three threes.
The Herd’s Wyatt Fricks extended his games played streak to 122. He had just four points and fouled out.
Marshall began the day tied with Troy for first and returns home for its final two games. Old Dominion visits the Cam Henderson Center on Tuesday at 7 p.m. On Friday, it’s a doubleheader with the men and women against Georgia Southern in both.
“We’ve got two huge games left,” Jackson said. “Get home, get healthy and take them one at a time.”
Appalachian State moved back into first place in the Sun Belt with Saturday’s 89-74 win over the Eagles that leaves the Mountaineers 11-6 in Sun Belt play.
South Alabama defeated Troy 65-54, meaning the Jaguars, Trojans and Herd are each 10-6 within league play.
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In women’s basketball action Saturday, Marshall pulled away late to defeat Georgia State, 82-75, in Atlanta.
Timaya Lewis-Eutsey put in a full day for the Herd with 32 points, seven rebounds, six blocked shots and four steals. The Herd improved to 23-7 overall and 13-4 in the Sun Belt. The Panthers fell to 9-19 and 4-12 in league play.
Through Saturday, Georgia Southern and Troy share first in the Sun Belt at 14-2.