| Marshall Drops MTSU In Nail Biter, 63-60 |
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| Written by Woody Woodrum | |||||
| Wednesday, 18 November 2009 00:17 | |||||
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By Woody Woodrum,
Herd Insider Senior Editor --
HUNTINGTON - The buzz in Huntington has been all about big man Hassan Whiteside when it comes to the Marshall men’s basketball, but it would be experience over inexperience in picking up a win over Middle Tennsesse State.
Marshall’s veteran’s were huge on defense, including one surprise appearance, would keep MTSU from stealing a road win or even moving the game to overtime at the Cam Henderson Center. Veterans Tyler Wilkerson, Shaq Johnson, Tirrell Baines, Darryl Merthie and Damier Pitts, who has been out two weeks with a concussion, were in at the end and came up big late to hold on for the 63-60 win in the Henderson Center Tuesday night. Marshall improved to 2-0, while MTSU fell to 1-2. “It was our veterans down the stretch that made the plays,” head coach Donnie Jones said. “I would have loved to play our bench more, but it was a game that needed experience down the stretch. When we were down, I needed to stick with veterans who know what they were doing and had been there before.” Baines led Marshall with 12 points, along with five rebounds and two steals. “Everybody knows their role on the team,” said Baines. “Everybody comes out and does their part, so it’s not a problem.” Wilkerson and Johnson each scored 11 points.  Shaquille Johnson tipped in this missed basket over MTSU's Trevor Ottley in the second half. photo by Greg Perry/HI staff
“Shots weren’t falling. Coach told us it was going to be a grind, so we locked up on defense,” said Wilkerson, who hit 5-of-9, as did Johnson and Baines, from the floor.
“We huddled up in the middle of the court and said, ‘Don’t let them score.’ They only scored one more time after that, so we played real tough defense and came out with the win.” Hassan Whiteside scored eight points and pulled down a game high 10 rebounds. Pitts, who suffered from a concussion suffered in practice earlier this month, was only cleared by the Marshall medical staff the day prior to the Middle Tennessee game. The 5-10 point guard scored eight points and added three assists. “I am glad to be back out there,” said Pitts. “It was the trainer that cleared me to play. It was a spur of the minute. It was a last minute decision and I was ready to go.” The key moments of the game was with 35 seconds left in regulation, as the teams exchanged turnovers before Pitts was fouled by J.T. Sulton. He made the pair of free throws for a 61-56 Herd lead. A Trevor Ottley field goal with 25 seconds to go got Middle Tennessee back to a one-possession deficit at 61-58. Pitts took the inbounds pass and was fouled. His two free throws gave Marshall a five-point lead, 63-58. “He (Pitts) hasn’t been in practice, so with (Darryl) Merthie being there it has been kind of normal,” said Wilkerson. “But going back to last season, he was our main point guard and it is good to have him back out there. It feels like we are starting to get our main team back together.”  Tirrell Baines hauled this rebound away from MTSU's Trevor Ottley.
photo by Greg Perry/HI staff
A Blue Raiders’ turnover led to a pair of Wilkerson free throw attempts. The 6-8 senior forward missed both giving the Blue Raiders the ball, then Pitts fouled Demario Washington with nine seconds remaining as the guard drove to the basket, but it was only a one-plus-one situation. Washington sank both for what proved to be the final score of the game. Pitts slipped on the floor on the inbounds, in front of the MTSU bench, turning the ball over with seven seconds remaining. Rod Emanuel took a three-pointer at the five-second mark, with John son playing great defense that caused him to miss badly. Calvin O’Neil got the rebound, but his three-point attempt at the buzzer - with Wilkerson in his face - fell short, Merthie grabbed the rebound and secured the victory for the Thundering Herd. “Middle Tennessee is a good basketball team,” said Jones. “We knew we were in for a grind. I wrote one word on the board in the locker room before the game and it was, grind. Respect that in this game because we are going to have to play physical and make free throws. “Which we didn’t, but we made enough to win the game. I think it was a good test for our basketball team. You are not always going to be able to play pretty, and we came in and played a very physical group, but we found a way.” The Herd found a way despite shooting poorly. MU was only 22-of-53 from the floor (42 percent), 3-for-16 from the three-point line (19 percent) and a very poor 16-of-29 at the line, 55 percent. Take away Pitts’ perfect 6-for-6 on free throws, and the rest of the team was 10-for-23, only 43 percent. Trailing 30-29 at halftime, the Blue Raiders opened the second half on a 11-3 run to take a 40-33 lead with just over 16 minutes to play. The Thundering Herd responded, tying the game 42-42 when Wilkerson connected on a jumper a little over three minutes later. Wilkerson and Johnson scored 12 points in the second half, and nine of those 12 came in a three-minute segment that erased a seven-point MTSU lead and tied the game with 13 minutes left. Middle Tennessee bounced back, taking a 54-51 advantage on an O’Neil field goal at the 5:34 mark. Pitts sank a pair of free throws at 4:34 to make it 54-53, Baines made a steal on the next Blue Raiders’ possession and put back a Merthie three-point field goal attempt with a dunk to give the Herd a 55-54 lead with 3:57 remaining. A second consecutive Middle Tennessee State turnover led to a Baines’ dunk and a three-point MU lead. Marshall got a stop on the defensive lead which led to a Baines’ layup with 2:05 left. James Washington connected on a jumper 10 seconds later to make it a one possession game, and the Herd pulled out the win with defense late. “Obviously, we had Hassan Whiteside come off the bench for 23 minutes. He had 10 points, eight rebounds and four blocks, so he is doing some good things for us,” said Jones. “Obviously we are going to need our bench to do more as we going into Old Dominion this weekend. We are going to have to shoot the ball better, from the free throw line, and from the three-point line. If our shots go down it changes everything. And we are due, we are due. I am proud of our basketball team and the most important thing is that we keep finding a way to win.” Wilkerson said the crowd of 4,598 also played a part. “Emotion is a big thing for our team. If practice isn’t going well, coach always tells us to keep our emotion up. If we are playing hard and making mistakes, playing hard makes up for that, but if we have no emotion, we are basically out of luck,” said Wilkerson. “Coach gives us a lot of emotion, and Merthie gives a lot of emotion. Pitts gets back tonight, so we had to get him one.” Saturday, Marshall travels to 2-0 Old Dominion in Norfolk, Va., and the Monarchs are 2-0 after Gerald Lee scored 17 points to lead six Old Dominion players in double figures and the Monarchs defeated Longwood 98-59 on Tuesday night. Old Dominion never trailed while setting a program-high for points scored in regulation at the Ted Constant Convocation Center. Saturday’s game will only air on Huntington’s SuperTalk 94.1 FM and AM 930, WRVC radio in Huntington, due to the Herd-SMU game at the Joan C. Edwards Stadium being on the Thundering Herd/ISP Sports Network and, in Huntington, on 93.7 FM, The Dawg. Adam Cavalier will do the broadcast with Steve Cotton and Woody Woodrum back in Huntington with football, which kicks off at 4:30 p.m. Basketball airs at 6:30 p.m., tipping at 7 p.m. Old Dominion, returns all five starters from last year’s 25-10 squad, is favored to win the Colonial Athletic Association men’s basketball championship in 2009-10 according to a vote of the league’s coaches, sports information directors and media. Old Dominion has advanced to post-season play for five consecutive seasons and closed last year by capturing the inaugural CollegeInsider.com Tournament. The Monarchs, who have averaged nearly 24 victories over the past five seasons, return their top six scorers: Senior All-CAA post player Gerald Lee, who contributed 15.5 points and 5.7 rebounds per game; Junior Ben Finney (9.9 ppg/6.0 rpg); Junior Frank Hassell (7.5 ppg/5.3 rpg), who was named the MVP of the CIT, and; Junior Keyon Carter (7.9 ppg/4.6 rpg). There is also experience in the backcourt with junior Darius James (6.9 ppg) and senior Marsharee Neely (7.1 ppg).
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