Thundering Herd showcase too much for Chants

The Coastal Carolina University Chanticleers took on Marshall University’s Thundering Herd in a competitive conference matchup Feb. 9 as both basketball teams were looking to improve their conference record before playoffs.

In the first half, the Chants were struggling on offense by turning over the rock early. A few plays early on, the defensive end helped Marshall go on a 17-3 run including two of forward Obinna Anochili-Killen’s early steals. Thanks to good rebounding, Coastal was able to feed center Essam Mostafa in the paint where his layups brought the game back to a five-point difference, forcing Marshall to burn a timeout.

One possession at a time, Marshall’s lead grew and pressured Coastal to start shooting from beyond the arch. Unfortunately for the Chants, early foul trouble gave the Herd easy points from the charity stripe.

Within the first few minutes of the second half, Coastal got on a momentum roll, itching the game back to 10. With about 6 minutes left, guard Antoine Daye knocked down a three-ball dished by center DJ Basey. After possible halftime adjustments, Coastal matched up better with Marshall. At this point, CCU was only outscored 47-46 in the second half compared to 45-28 in the first half.

The Chants shot significantly better coming out the half. However, it wasn’t enough to keep up with Marshall’s offense, led by junior guard Andrew Taylor who was hitting field goals in transition.

With just eight ticks left, CCU senior guard Jomaru Brown chucked up an unsuccessful three, meaning The Chanticleers fell short at home to a 92-74 final score. Marshall’s Taylor knocked down five 3-pointers to cap off a 33-point finish.

The Chanticleers fell to a 4-10 conference record following the game. They will be back in Sun Belt Conference action Feb. 16 when they take on the Panthers from Georgia State University at 7 p.m. in the HTC Center.