Herd Men’s Hoops Rallied Late to Win at Ohio

Box Score (PDF) | Championship Fund

ATHENS, Ohio – Ending the contest with a 12-0 run, the Marshall University Men's Basketball team (3-6) rolled out of Athens, Ohio, with a 74-69 win over the Ohio Bobcats (4-5) at the Convocation Center on Saturday night. It's the first time MU has won at the Convocation Center since December 4, 2010.

"It's still not where we need to be, (but) the kids played hard, they're trying and they want to win," Herd men's basketball head coach Dan D'Antoni said after the victory. "They keep that spirit, and we keep going game to game better, (it'll get better). I hope it feels better from the fan base. I know from the coaching end it feels a lot better, and when I walked into that locker room the kids were happy. It's a heck of a lot better two-and-a-half-hour bus ride back to Huntington doing it this way."

MU trailed by seven, 69-62, with 2:11 left in the contest. However, The Herd was not ready to lay down. Kamdyn Curfman hit one of his four three-point buckets to cut the deficit to four, 69-65, 11 seconds later. Then at the 1:22 mark, Cameron Crawford cut the Ohio lead to 69-68 with three of his 12 points.

With 22 ticks on the clock, Obinna Anochili-Killen tallied his final three points of an 18-point evening with a banked in three off the glass to give Marshall its first lead, 71-69, since the 13:38 mark in the second half. The Herd iced the game with three free throws, one by Anochili-Killen and a pair from Kevon Voyles, to end the game on a 12-0 run and defeat the Bobcats.

"This is one we wanted to get," Voyles said after the win. "We knew if we cut down on the mistakes and worked together, we were going to win the game. We went out there and did the little things."

Voyles joined Anochili-Killen with 18 points on an 8-for-14 evening from the field while tying his career-high in steals at five. Anochili-Killen fell a rebound shy of back-to-back double-doubles grabbing nine boards to go with his 18 points, making five of his 10 attempts from the field.

"I was a more efficient player that coach (D'Antoni) wanted me to be," Voyles said about his performance. "I was missing shots, but tonight coach said to keep going. I want to continue working and improving this whole season."

Coming up clutch from the behind the arc, Curfman drained four of his eight three-point attempts and a pair of free throws for 14 points. Crawford rounded out a quartet of double-figure scorers making 4-of-6 from the field, including 3-for-4 from deep, for his 12 points.

Despite being outrebounded 14-5 on the offensive glass, Marshall outscored Ohio 6-5 on second-chance points.

The Herd defense also played a huge role in the victory holding the Bobcats to just 36.2 percent (25-of-69) from the field and 23.1 percent (6-for-26) from three-point range.

MU had its best shooting game from three in the victory making eight of its 18 attempts (44.4 percent) and second-best shooting night from the field at 49.1 percent (26-of-53).

UP NEXT
Marshall continues its string of contests against MAC opponents as it travels to Toledo to face the Rockets on Wednesday night.

For all the latest information about Marshall Men's Basketball, follow @Herd_MBB on Twitter and @herdmbb on Instagram.

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Team Stats

Kevon Voyles

Obinna Anochili-Killen

Kamdyn Curfman

Cameron Crawford

Players Mentioned

Obinna Anochili-Killen

Cameron Crawford

Kamdyn Curfman

Kevon Voyles

Marshall University Athletics