Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
20-12,12-6Sun Belt
#8 Seed Georgia State
14-19,8-10Sun Belt
Late Magic Lifts Herd Men’s Basketball Past Georgia State
3/7/2025 9:33:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Mingo’s lob to Anochili-Killen with 1.8 seconds left gives Marshall a 79-76 win
PENSACOLA, Fla. – Marshall senior guard Dezayne Mingo found Obinna Anochili-Killen for a lob and Anochili-Killen converted and was fouled with 1.8 seconds left, giving Marshall a 79-76 win over Georgia State in the 2025 SBC Men's Basketball Fourth Round on Friday evening at Pensacola Bay Center.
Mingo finished with 19 points and had eight assists with only one turnover – a key factor as Marshall doubled its assists to turnovers in a physical contest between both teams. Anochili-Killen finished with 16 points and four blocks.
With the win, Marshall (20-12) has now won five straight and advances to Saturday's 5:30 p.m. quarterfinal against Arkansas State.
"I'm proud of our team. We really had to gut this one out," Marshall Men's Basketball Cornelius Jackson said. "They were playing really well and we, obviously, ended up making the last play at the end. It was a heck of a pass by Dezayne and good concentration on the finish by Obinna. I'm really proud of our guys. We still have work to do in Pensacola."
In a tie game, Mingo grabbed a rebound off an errant free throw with 12 seconds remaining and got the Herd into system quickly for the play.
Anochili-Killen rolled off the screen hard to the basket and Mingo dropped the pass over top the defender for the game-winning basket, which sent a largely Marshall-partisan crowd into a frenzy.
"It wasn't designed," Anochili-Killen said. "When he came off the ball screen, he saw me behind my defender. We always talk about it in practice that once I'm running and my defender is back-pedaling, that's a lob every time."
Marshall trailed throughout the second half until Mingo knocked down an 18-footer to tie it with 3:00 left and then hit two free throws with 1:42 remaining, giving the Herd its first lead since before the 12:00 mark of the first half.
The teams traded blows down the stretch, but Marshall regained the final possession after Mingo rebounded a missed free throw by Georgia State's Nick McMullen, which set the stage for the dramatic finish.
"No. 33 was trying to call switch during that situation and it was a little bit of a miscommunication," Mingo said. "He was back-pedaling and (Obinna) is a great lob threat, so I just threw it up there."
Marshall jumped out of the gates early, building a 7-0 lead, but the Panthers – who had won on Thursday over Georgia Southern to advance – started to heat up from the outside and took a 10-point lead late in the first half.
However, a pair of Cade Gibbs free throws and a 3-pointer just before the buzzer by Jalen Speer got the Herd back within 39-34 at the break.
Speer finished with 18 points in the win while Nate Martin fell just shy of a double-double with nine points and 14 rebounds.
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