Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Salem International
Marshall Defeats Salem International 119-35
12/3/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 3, 2009
HUNTINGTON, W.Va.--Led by five players in double figures, Marshall University defeated Salem (W.Va.) International 119-35 in men's basketball action Dec. 3 in the Cam Henderson Center. The Thundering Herd's 84-point margin of victory broke the school record of 64 which was set ironically enough against Salem during the 1944-45 season (119-54). That 1944-45 game marked the first time that Marshall scored at least 100 points in a game. Thursday night's game was the 140th time MU has scored at least 100 points in game.
MU freshman post player Hassan Whiteside (Gastonia, N.C.) paced the Herd as he went 8-for-11 from the field for a season best 19 points. Whiteside, who entered the game second in Division I in blocked shots, posted three rejections. Whiteside also added four rebounds and a steal. Antonio Haymon (Jr., Washington, D.C.) was 7-of-10 from the floor as he recorded a season best 16 points. The Cecil (Community)College transfer also pulled down a game high eight rebounds. Sophomore guard Dago Pena, who has been slowed by a concussion during the preseason, moved to the point for the first time in his career and responded with a career high 10 assists. The 6-6 Punta Gorda, Fla. native scored a career high 15 points (7-of-11 shooting) and made a career high five steals. Shaquille Johnson (So., Jacksonville, Fla.) connected on 4-of-5 three-point field goals for 12 points while senior forward Tyler Wilkerson (Lexington, Ky.) scored 10 points and had five rebounds.
The Tigers were issued a technical foul prior to the game for dunking during warm-ups which resulted in a pair of Damier Pitts (So., Charlotte, N.C.) free throws and a 2-0 MU advantage. Marshall scored the first 18 points of the game before Samuel Smith tallied the first Salem basket at the 14:58 mark of the first half. The Thundering Herd led 60-14 at halftime. The 14 points are the third fewest allowed by a Conference USA school in a half in league history (10 is the record set by St. Louis . MU shot 61.9% from the floor in the second half, outscoring the Tigers 59-21. The 35 points allowed are tied for the fourth fewest by a C-USA school in league history (35-St. Louis vs. Grambling, Dec. 17, 2003). The Salem loss was worst post-war defeat by any of WVIAC school in the NCAA Division II league. The 14 field goals that Marshall allowed are the fourth fewest in a game by a C-USA school in conference history (11 is the record by Southern Miss three times).
"We are happy for the victory," said Marshall head coach Donnie Jones. "It was a great opportunity to play a lot of guys tonight. I want to thank Salem for coming to the Henderson Center. They went through a coaching change, so it was an unusual setting for them. They had great effort tonight, and I was happy with our effort too. We had a chance to play 11 guys in the game tonight. I'm very proud of the fact that we had a chance to share the ball. One thing we talked about was playing unselfish, and we had 29 assists tonight so I was pleased with that. I thought our guys did a good job of playing for each other instead of getting caught up with the score, and trying to play for the crowd or play for themselves. Those are what you get concerned with as a basketball coach, especially with a young team. I am proud we didn't play to their level but we played to our level. I didn't want to talk about winning big leading into the game, because I didn't know if we would win big. You always hope to go into the game and play well. Our young guys, and even our starters did a good job of not being selfish and pouting because they weren't getting numbers. I have been a part of teams where guys were just worried about their stats. But our guys were up cheering for each other. We could be a very deep basketball team. And to do that we have to get guys into the rotation like we did tonight."
"It has been hard work being out," Pena said. "I have worked hard to get back. My teammates supported me. I came to practice and worked hard, and my teammates helped me out and helped me through the injury. Coach Jones always tells us to be ready when your number is called. Today I was ready to go and I produced." "We came in with intent to focus on us," Haymon said. "We wanted to work on the things we were doing at practice; from the press, to getting back and working on our zone going against their zone play. We wanted to make sure we executed all of our plays. We just focused on us."
The Thundering Herd hit the court again on Monday Dec. 7 when MU travels to Binghamton for a 7 p.m. start.
