Marshall University Athletics
Miami Edges Marshall Men In Overtime, 51-48
1/28/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Miami Edges Marshall Men In Overtime, 51-48
1/28/2004
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. ? Miami senior Juby Johnson scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds, both team highs, to lead the RedHawks over the Marshall Thundering Herd in overtime, 51-48, at the Cam Henderson Center. Miami improves to 10-6, 6-2 in the Mid-American Conference, while the Herd drops to 7-9, 4-4 in league action.
Both teams struggled from the field in the contest, with Marshall shooting 31.1% (14-45) from the floor, 11.8% from beyond the arc (2-17), and 62.1% (18-29) from the free throw line. The RedHawks did not fare much better, shooting 33.3% from the field (18-54), 23.1% from three-point range (6-26), and 47.4% from the charity stripe (47.4%).
Eric Smith (Cleveland, Ohio) made a running layup to give Marshall the lead at 2-0, the only lead they would have the entire night. The Herd trailed 22-19 at halftime, as the Miami pressure defense and their ball-controlling, slow tempo offense kept Marshall off guard and frustrated.
Miami led by 14 (36-22) with 13:58 to go in regulation, and looked to be in control of the game. However, Marshall fought back, and got the Henderson Center crowd on their feet after a 12-0 run made the score, 36-34. The RedHawks maintained the lead until the 25-second mark in regulation, when Enoch Bunch (Nashville, Tenn.) stole an errant Gene Seals pass and dished it off to Ronny Dawn (Fort Thomas, Ky.) for a wide open, fast-break layup. Miami?s Chet Mason threw up a desperation three-pointer as time expired, and Marshall headed to their first overtime contest in the Ron Jirsa era.
The RedHawks started the overtime session on a 7-0 run, and held on late to avoid another Marshall comeback. After two David Anderson (Levittown, Puerto Rico) free throws, The Herd trailed by one, 49-48, with :46 to play. Miami used the entire shot clock and got two key offensive rebounds and finally a put back by Danny Horace to push their lead to three, 51-48. Bunch ran the ball down the floor and struggled to get off a shot, throwing up a desperation three-pointer as time expired.
Dawn led Marshall with 12 points, while Bunch and Anderson contributed nine points.
Juby Johnson led Miami with 17 points and eight rebounds, and Josh Hausfeld scored nine points.
The Herd travel to Bowling Green to take on the Falcons Saturday afternoon at 3:30 at Anderson Arena. The game will be televised by the Thundering Herd/ISP Network.
