Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Ohio
Men's Basketball Holds Off Ohio, 65-57
12/4/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 4, 2010
ATHENS, Ohio - The Marshall University men's basketball team held off a late surge by Ohio University and the Thundering Herd made 10-of-12 free throws down the stretch to defeat the Bobcats, 65-57, on Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center.
The victory improves the Herd to 5-2 on the season, while Ohio drops to 4-3. The win for the Thundering Herd marks its first in Athens, Ohio since 2006 when MU notched an 84-78 victory in overtime.
Both the Thundering Herd and Bobcats struggled to find rhythm during the first 20 minutes of action, as Marshall held a 27-23 edge at intermission.
MU's lead would balloon to double figures, 37-27, after a dunk from Tirrell Baines with 15:02 remaining. However, Ohio would answer by mounting a 16-6 run, which included a trio of shots from beyond the arc to bring the game even at 43-all.
Johnny Thomas scored consecutive layups to hold a six-point advantage, 51-45, but the Bobcats would not quit as D.J. Cooper drained a three-pointer from the corner to even the score at 55 at the 3:35 mark.
The charity stripe proved to be the difference in the game for the Herd, as the visitors sank 10-of-12 free throws over the final 3:14 to claim the eight-point victory.
DeAndre Kane was the top scorer for the Herd for the third-straight contest, netting 18 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the floor. The redshirt-freshman added four rebounds and four assists to his stat line.
Baines recorded his first double-double of the season and eighth of his career, totaling 12 points and corralling 10 rebounds. Johnson chipped in with nine points in the Herd victory.
OU was led by Cooper's 22 points, who buried four 3-pointers, recorded nine rebounds and six assists.
"We had to play extremely hard against a very good Ohio team," head coach Tom Herrion said. "We had to battle and fight and I am really proud of my group. We played with great courage and toughness and we exposed a great deal of character on our part today on the road and we needed too. Our defense clearly carried us and it was our best defensive effort of the season by far.
"We went to the foul line and we knocked down our free throws with great confidence today," Herrion continued. "When guys stepped to the line today I felt we were going to make a lot of free throws. We stepped up and made key crucial free throws in meaningful moments of the game."
The Herd is back in action Tuesday night inside the Cam Henderson Center as MU hosts James Madison University. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
