Foster scores 30 for the second straight game to lead Furman past Coastal Carolina 89-80

CONWAY, S.C. (Nov. 17, 2023) – One night after scoring 30 points in the opening round of the Myrtle Beach Invitational, Furman guard Marcus Foster did it again in the second round against Coastal Carolina, sinking 12-of-23 shots in leading the Paladins to an 89-80 victory.

Foster’s 60 total points is already the sixth-most in MBI history, and he still has another game to play. If Foster scores 16 points in Sunday’s final round against Wyoming, he will break the three-game tournament record of 75 points set by Khalil Ahmad of Cal State Fullerton in 2018.

“Yesterday, I wasn’t really too impressed with the 30 because we lost (88-74 to Liberty) and it was a pretty embarrassing loss,” said Foster, who also had five rebounds and five assists against Coastal. “But today I’m much happier because we got the win. It was much more fun today.”

To which Furman coach Bob Richey replied, “If he takes 23 shots, he better get 30 (points).”

Furman (3-1) led 39-31 at halftime and held a nine-point advantage with eight minutes left. Coastal (1-2) then scored seven consecutive points to close the gap to 67-65 with still 6:22 to play. But the Paladins responded immediately with an 8-2 run – including six by Foster – in barely a minute to rebuild the lead back to 75-67.

“Basketball is a game of runs, and sometimes you just have to break the run,” Richey said. “You just have to make a play to settle things down. Once you get that first one, everyone loosens back up.”

The Chanticleers sank 47.8 percent of their shots and 43.5 percent of their 3-point attempts, and outrebounded Furman 41-30. But they committed 18 turnovers, which led directly to 21 Furman points.

“We scored enough points to win, but we couldn’t stop them,” Coastal coach Cliff Ellis said. “We tried everything. Man-to-man defense, we went to some zone. They just made the shots. And we had too many turnovers. That broke our back.”

Furman guard Carter Whitt had 20 points and eight rebounds, and Garrett Hien and JP Pegues combined for 14 of the team’s 27 assists.

Coastal was led by Kylan Blackmon with 23 points. Jacob Meyer added 18 points, and Ginika Ojiako had 14 points and nine assists.