11-11-24
The Cam Henderson Center held two early-season matchups as the Toledo Rockets and the Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles drove into Huntington.
The Rockets came to town first with a Saturday afternoon matchup against the Herd. Marshall had an unfortunate night shooting the ball, however managed to keep it close throughout the contest.
As the clock ticked down in the first half, Marshall transfer guard Dezayne Mingo tipped in a rebound to cut the lead to three. The Rockets would storm up the court, and Mingo would block a shot with just nine seconds left. The Rockets would get the rebound and retain possession, and Toledo’s transfer guard Seth Hubbard hit a three-point shot to extend Toledo’s lead to 47-41 going into the break.
Toledo led throughout the entire second half, and hope looked lost for Marshall after the Rockets took an 82-65 advantage with just under five minutes to play. The Herd battled back with a couple of threes from freshman Will Moore and buckets from senior transfer Jakob Gibbs, but the comeback would fall short, and Marshall lost 90-80.
The Thundering Herd shot a mere 40% from the field, and 28% from beyond the arc, these being its main reasons that it could not defeat the Rockets.
Marshall’s senior forward Nate Martin had a solid game, posting his first double-double of the season with 17 points and 14 rebounds. The Rockets were led by a committee, as five players scored 15 or more, with the most coming from Isaiah Adams and Sam Lewis with 17 apiece.
Two days later, Southern Indiana made the trip to downtown Huntington to face off against the Thundering Herd, and Marshall came out of the gates flying. The Screaming Eagles were held to just 19 points in the first half, and Marshall forced them to turn the ball over 12 times in the first 20 minutes. The Herd’s defense was impeccable, but unfortunately started fading in the second half.
Southern Indiana completely flipped the script in the second half, and absolutely outplayed Marshall. In the second half, the Screaming eagles outrebounded the Herd 27-19, kept Marshall to a 14% 3FG%, and outscored the Herd 44-39. Defense was of the essence in this matchup, and it led to 86 total free throws between the squads.
Marshall was able to hold off USI and won the game 77-63. The Herd was led predominantly by Dezayne Mingo, who had 19 points in just 29 minutes of action. Nate Martin had another solid game for Marshall, tallying 18 points and five rebounds. For the Screaming Eagles, Damoni Harrison led all scorers with 20.
The Thundering Herd looks to string together a couple of wins as it hosts Bellarmine on Saturday for a 7 p.m. tip-off.