Meyer scores 21 to lead CCU past Marshall, 74-67

CONWAY, S.C. – Jacob Meyer scored 21 points and frontline players John Ojiako and Braeden MacVicar each had double figures in points and rebounds as Coastal Carolina weathered a late rally by Marshall to take a 74-67 victory in a Sun Belt Conference game Saturday afternoon at the HTC Center.

Meyer was one of four players in doubles figures for the Chanticleers, who avenged a 17-point loss to Marshall earlier this season. Ojiako had 16 points, Kylan Blackmon added 14 and MacVicar had 12. Ojiako, a 6′10″ graduate student, led the way with 12 rebounds to collect his 15th double-double of the season, while 6′11″ freshman MacVicar had 10 rebounds to register the first double-double of his Coastal career.

In winning back-to-back games for the first time this season, Coastal improved to 8-17 overall and 5-9 in the conference.

“These two games (including an 82-75 win over Georgia Southern on Thursday) are the most complete games we have played this season,” said Coastal interim head coach Benny Moss. “We talked about this being a long road, and we are finally starting to jell. They are starting to believe in themselves. Our freshmen (Meyer and MacVicar) are starting to play like sophomores, and it is making a heck of a difference.”

Coastal took the lead for good late in the first half and used a 12-2 run early in the second half on the way to build a 14-point lead before withstanding Marshall’s late comeback bid that saw Marshall cut the score 65-64 with four minutes left.

Blackmon answered the Herd run with a three with two minutes left in the game to push CCU’s lead out to 68-64. Following a Marshall jumper with one-minute left that cut the Chants’ lead to 68-66, Meyer closed the door with a three-point field goal with 38 seconds left in the game to make it a two-possession game and CCU hit three consecutive free throws in the final 26 seconds to push the lead out to the final score.

Kevon Voyles had 15 points to lead Marshall, which slipped to 12-15 overall and 7-7 in the league. The Herd won the first meeting of these two teams, 91-74, with Obinna Anochili-Killen hitting for a career-high 30 points. He had just two points in this game.

Coastal withstood an early 15-0 run by Marshall and recovered from a 10-point deficit to take the lead when Jon Sanders made a jumper in the lane, giving the Chanticleers a 32-31 advantage. Sanders’ bucket came in the midst of a 10-0 run, with four different players contributing points. Blackmon finished the run with a three-pointer, making it 35-31 before Marshall made a couple free throws to make it 35-33 at halftime.

Ojiako and Meyer each had 10 points for the Chants in the first period, and the two combined to hit on 8-of-10 shots from the field. Marshall hit seven three-pointers to keep pace while Anochili-Killen, the Thundering Herd’s top scorer, sat out most of the half after picking up two quick fouls.

Coastal and Marshall each made the same number of field goals and three-pointers for the game, but the Chanticleers won it at the free throw line, where they made 14-of-17 as compared to just 7-of-8 for the visitors. The Chants were a sharp 12-of-22 from beyond the three-point line, with Meyer and Blackmon hitting on a combined 9-of-14 from long range. Coastal also had a slight rebounding advantage, 41-38.

Coastal now heads out for two road games this coming week before returning home to close out the regular season against Arkansas State at 7:30 (ET) on Feb. 28 and James Madison at 7:30 on March 1.