Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Chattanooga
Marshall Men's Basketball Edged By Chattanooga, 69-68
11/20/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 20, 2010
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - A late Marshall rally fell short for the Thundering Herd men's basketball team as Chattanooga edged the Herd, 69-68, Saturday night at the Cam Henderson Center.
Marshall (2-1) had the ball down a point with 12 seconds remaining. Kane, who led all players with 20 points, was called for an offensive foul as time expired, giving the Mocs the game.
"Clearly it was a disappointing ending for us by not getting the job done. We don't believe in moral victories, that's not what we play for," head coach Tom Herrion said. "Our kids battled, clearly over the 40 minutes we didn't play well enough to get the job done, and I will take the blame for that as a head coach. There were a lot of good things tonight. Give Chattanooga credit, they did an excellent job. We were just one or two plays away."
UTC (2-2) had the hot hand early on, jumping out to an 8-2 advantage in the first four minutes. Marshall found its groove at that point, scoring the next 16 points to grab an 18-8 advantage. Kane found his groove for MU, scoring eight in the run.
The Mocs came right back, making a run of their own to finish the half and hold a 36-35 edge at the break. UTC led despite hitting just one two-point bucket in the half. Their offense came from three-point range as they hit 9-of-21 three-pointers. Huntington native Chris Early hit four treys while scoring 13 in the opening frame.
Over the first five minutes of the second stanza, the Herd went on a 15-6 run to take a 50-42 lead, but UTC was relentless, chopping right back into that lead and eventually took the lead for good on an Omar Wattad trey with 4:05 remaining.
UTC extended the lead to three on two occasions, holding a 69-66 lead with 1:10 left. With 51 ticks remaining, Tirrell Baines hit a lay-up to bring the Herd within a point. Following a missed three by UTC, the Herd got the ball back one more time before its final possession.
Kane led all players with 20 points while Dago Pena notched 12 and Shaquille Johnson tallied 10. Nigel Spikes led everyone with nine boards. He also scored seven points.
The Herd finished with a .452-.368 shooting advantage, but it was the three-point shot that helped the Mocs as they hit 12 for the game. UTC also finished with a 40-39 edge on the boards.
Marshall returns to action on Monday evening, playing host to Jackson State in the second game of the Global Sports Shootout. Tip is set for 7 p.m. at the Cam Henderson Center.
