Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
UCF
Marshall Edges UCF 65-64
1/14/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 14, 2012
Final Stats | Notes | Photo Gallery 
| Box Score (PDF) 
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Sophomore guard DeAndre Kane scored 16 points including the game-winning free throw to lead the Marshall men's basketball team to a 65-64 win Saturday at the Cam Henderson Center.
A season-high crowd of 8,379 was on hand and saw Marshall improve to 13-4 overall and 4-0 in Conference USA. UCF fell to 13-4 overall and 3-1 in C-USA.
"Our fans were phenomenal," said Marshall head coach Tom Herrion. "You can hear it, you can feel it. You can feel the buzz and the energy."
The Thundering Herd was just 12-for-25 from the free throw line, but made them when it counted. With Marshall trailing by one point with 14 seconds to play, Kane was fouled and hit both free throws, the second of which was the winning point.
The game featured 13 lead changes, including nine in the first 13 minutes and three in the final two minutes.
"If you're going to be a good team, you win different ways," Herrion said. "We won differently tonight. We won with toughness and resilience. There was total belief that we were going to win the game."
Junior forward Dennis Tinnon battled foul trouble for the first time all season, but still managed to record a game-high 10 rebounds to go with seven points in just 23 minutes.
Senior guard Shaquille Johnson put together a complete game with eight points, five rebounds and four assists.
Marshall held its largest lead of eight points just before halftime and went into the break ahead 37-32.
The Herd led 60-53 with 4:51 to play before the Knights started chipping away at the lead.
A layup by UCF's Josh Crittle gave the Knights a 62-61 lead (1:34), its first since the 7:41 mark in the first half.
On Marshall's next possession, a missed jumper by Kane was rebounded by Tinnon who slammed it home to regain the lead for Marshall, 63-62 with 1:13 to play.
UCF responded with an offensive rebound and put back by Keith Clanton as the Knights went on top 64-63 with 49 seconds remaining.
Marshall's Damier Pitts missed a jump shot which forced the Herd to foul UCF's Marcus Jordan. Jordan missed the front end of a 1-and-1 opportunity.
Kane was fouled on Marshall's next possession which led to his game-winning free throws.
"We made it a compelling game to keep everyone in their seats," Herrion joked. "It was a great night for Marshall basketball. It was a great night for college basketball."
The Herd shot 39.7 percent from the field and 35 percent (7-20) from three-point range. The Knights shot 42.1 percent from the field and was 5-for-20 from three-point range for 25 percent.
Marshall received great bench support led by junior forward Nigel Spikes who had six points and seven rebounds. Senior guard Dago Pena made two three-pointers and had eight points to help Marshall's bench score 22 points.
UCF was led by Keith Clanton who scored 14 points and had eight rebounds.
The Thundering Herd will next be in action on Wednesday as it takes a break from conference play to face West Virginia at 7:30 p.m. in Charleston.
