Marshall University Athletics
Men's Basketball Hosts Rio Grande Tuesday
2/9/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 9, 2009
Huntington, W.Va. -
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Marshall University's men's basketball team will host Rio Grande on Tuesday in the Thundering Herd's final regular season non-conference game of the year. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at the Cam Henderson Center.
Tuesday's game will be the 13th meeting between the two schools and Marshall holds a 12-0 advantage in the series that dates back to 1920. The Thundering Herd won the last meeting (87-51, last season in Huntington) on December 14, 2007. The Herd's Darryl Merthie scored a career-high 22 points in that game.
Marshall is coming off of a dramatic win over Tulane. The Thundering Herd rallied from a 13-point halftime deficit to post an 89-86 overtime win thanks in part to career scoring nights from Chris Lutz (37) and Shaquille Johnson (22). Marshall is now 10-13 overall and 3-6 in Conference USA.
Rio Grande Head Coach Ken French (W.Va. State, `93) is in his third season at Rio and has led the RedStorm to a 17-10 overall record this season.
Rio is led by six-foot-eight standout Brandon Ivery who is averaging 17.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. The RedStorm's Brett Beucler contributes 13.6 ppg, while P.J. Rase adds 11.7 points per outing.
The RedStorm is coming off of an 86-72 loss at Mt. Vernon Nazarene on Saturday. Rase led Rio Grande with 23 points in that contest, while Ivery grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds.
Tickets are available by calling 1-800-The-Herd or going online to Herdzone.com's ticket center.
