Conway, S.C. – Junior guard Kylan Blackmon hit a career high with 23 points for Coastal Carolina, but Furman withstood a late Coastal rally to earn an 89-80 win in a second-round game at the Myrtle Beach Invitational Friday night at the HTC Center.
 
Blackmon hit a three-pointer to pull the Chants to within 64-58 with nine minutes remaining, and then he had five points in a 12-3 run that brought Coastal to within 67-65 at the 6-minute mark, but that was as close as CCU would get. Marcus Foster, who had a game-high 30 points, turned things around with six of his team's next eight points to put the Paladins comfortably back in front by 75-67 with four minutes left, and the two teams traded buckets the rest of the way.
 
Foster, a 6'4" senior guard, was helped by backcourt mate Carter Whitt, who hit for 20 points, as Furman improved to 3-1 on the year.
 
The 6'3" Blackmon, whose previous career best was 16 points, finished 8-of-12 from the field and 5-of-8 from beyond the three-point line. Jacob Meyer finished with 18 points and John Ojiako added 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds for the Chanticleers, who slipped to 1-2 on the season. Kevin Easley, a 6'7" junior who had led the team in scoring the first two games, was held to just four points on 2-of-9 shooting.
 
"We were good offensively, but defensively we had no answers, and we turned the ball over 18 times," explained Coastal head coach Cliff Ellis. "We got close there, but we couldn't get a stop on defense. We've got to figure that out. When you score 80 points, that's enough to win a game. This team is going to get better. I thought Kylan (Blackmon) played his best game, and Jacob (Meyer) is unafraid for a freshman. We are showing some good signs."
 
The contest started as a contrast between Coastal's three-point shooting and Foster's hot hand. Foster scored his team's first eight points, but the Chants broke on top a 16-14 on the strength of four buckets from long range. An old-fashioned three-point play put the Paladins on top, 17-16, and they held the advantage the rest of the way. A late 7-2 run gave Furman a 39-31 lead, it's largest of the first half. Foster had 15 points to lead all scorers at the break, while Blackmon had 13, including four three-pointers, to pace Coastal.
 
It was midway into the second half when Foster made a layup to finish an 8-0 run for the Paladins, giving them their largest lead on the night, at 62-50, with 10:50 remaining. Coastal's largest lead was right out of the gate, at 9-3, with Meyer and Blackmon making three-pointers for the nine points. Meyer also proved helpful to Blackmon at the end, as he had nine points in the last six minutes.
 
For the game, Furman made 12 three-pointers, while Coastal made 10. The Paladins also converted nine more free throws (13-of-17 as compared to 4-of-7). The Chants won the battle of the boards yet again, 41-30. In addition to Ojiako's nine boards, Easley and Miroslav Stafl, a 6'11" reserve, had eight apiece. Stafl got all of his rebounds in just 14 minutes of playing time.
 
Coastal will move on to face Charleston at 1 p.m. ET Sunday in its third game of the Myrtle Beach Invitational. The Chanticleers will resume their regular season schedule with a home contest against North Carolina Central at 2 p.m. ET next Sunday, Nov. 26.
 
For complete coverage of CCU men's basketball, follow the Chants on social media @CoastalMBB (Twitter), facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook), @GoCCUSports (Instagram) or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at goccusports.com.