Eastern Michigan Edges Coastal Carolina, 71-70, in Conway

Billy Donlon was victoriour in his first game at the helm for Eastern Michigan, escaping with a 71-70 win over Coastal Carolina in Conway. The Eagles were led by Mohammed Habhab, who had a career performance.

Coastal Carolina started the same starting five as they did in their exhibition win last week, rolling out Trey Perry, Jaylen Cross, Tristan Thompson, Jordan Buzzard and Caleb Middleton.

“You get time in games from what you do in practice,” head coach Justin Gray said, explaining that Buzzard had earned his starting spot through his improvement since arriving in Conway.

Perry got the Chants off to a flying start, scoring the first five points of the game before the Chants continued to extend their lead to 9-2.

And that's how we start the new season pic.twitter.com/k7mTyZD56G

— Coastal Men's Basketball (@CoastalMBB) November 3, 2026

After the Chants took the early lead into the first media timeout, Eastern Michigan put in Habhab, who made a surprise start on the bench, and the Eagles began to claw back. Although the Eagles only took a one-point lead twice in the first half, both teams kept it competitive, and the Chants walked into the break with a 37-34 lead.

Habhab led all scorers with 15 points at the break, getting to the free throw line nine times and getting the Chants’ two centers into foul trouble, forcing Coastal to play small. Jaiden Martin also pitched in eight points for the Eagles through 20 minutes.

For the Chants, Perry led the team with 11 points at the break. Darius Washington added seven points off the bench, while Cross added five.

Eastern Michigan came out much quicker in the second half, starting Habhab out of the break and taking a one-point lead going into the first media timeout. But much like the first half, the matchup remained competitive, with neither team pulling away.

A turnover by Perry and a three-point basket by Martin put the Eagles up four with 3:37 remaining, but Perry came back with a three of his own, prompting coach Justin Gray to call an immediate timeout with the Chants down one and just over three minutes remaining.

Much like all game, Habhab’s physicality caused major problems for the Chants, and the 6-foot-9 forward got to the line at will, earning 21 free throw attempts, including two huge ones with just over 20 seconds remaining to put Eastern Michigan up two.

Perry turned the ball over on the following possession, and the Eagles were able to come out with the 71-70 win over the Chants.

Habhab finished with one of the most impressive stat lines in all of college basketball through the first day, going for 34 points and 13 rebounds, with 18 made free throws. Martin was the Eagles’ second-leading scorer, finishing with 17.

A masterpiece 🙌 pic.twitter.com/q7oi60pj6X

— Eastern Michigan Men's Basketball (@EMU_MBB) November 3, 2026

Coastal was led in scoring by Perry, who finished with 20 points on 19 shots. Darius Washington III added 13 points off the bench, and Cross pitched in 10 points and eight rebounds.

The Chants showed their depth in the season opener, with 10 players seeing action. Gray sees that as a potential strength of this year’s roster.

“I could see us playing 10 guys,” said Gray.

One of these 10 guys was Marshall transfer Drew Fuquay. The forward was a late addition to this year’s roster and only played three minutes in the exhibition game, but played 16 minutes in this game, scoring three points.

DaJohn Craig also added 9 points off of the bench in 15 minutes. Derrick Green contributed four points and six rebounds, while Ahston Hardaway also played double-digit minutes,

The Chants will travel to Duke on Thursday, Nov. 5, to take on the Blue Devils, who are coming off a big victory over Army. Eastern Michigan will travel to Ohio to take on Xavier on Friday, Nov. 6.