Staff Report

 

NASHVILLE, TN— Marshall made a late rally, but was unable to overcome a 16-point deficit and lost at Belmont 79-74 Thursday at the Curb Event Center.

“We are becoming a big game for a lot of teams,” Marshall head coach Tom Herrion said. “I was talking to (Belmont head coach) Rick (Byrd) after we shook hands and he said that we were one of the biggest teams to ever come into this building. It’s a compliment but we have to understand that we are going to get team’s best shot and we got their best shot tonight. I thought it took us too long to respond early on.”

Based on Marshall’s RPI ranking, the Herd is the highest rated team to play at the Curb Event Center in over eight years.

Sophomore guard DeAndre Kane led the Thundering Herd (9-3) with a game-high 25 points. He was 6-for-10 from the field including two three-pointers and was 11-for-16 from the free throw line.

Junior forward Robert Goff recorded his second double-double of the season with 14 points and a personal-best 11 rebounds. He also added three assists, two blocks and one steal.

Marshall outrebounded Belmont 45-40 and has yet to be outrebounded in a game this season. The rebounding effort was led by junior forward Dennis Tinnon with a game-high 13 boards.

The Herd played from behind nearly the entire game as its only lead was 2-0. Belmont took a 37-25 lead at halftime.

“Belmont was the aggressor early on and put us on our heels early,” Herrion said. “They were quicker to the ball and got the 50/50 balls early. It thought that was a sign that they were more aggressive than us which is a little uncharacteristic of my team.”

Marshall began the second half scoring nine unanswered points in just over two minutes to trail by one point, 37-36. The Herd then went on a scoring drought, going over seven minutes without a made field goal.

Belmont (9-5) increased its lead to 16, the largest of the game with 10:04 to play.

The Herd cut the Bruin lead to 11 points, 75-64 with 1:45 to play. Marshall scored the next eight points including back-to-back three-pointers by Damier Pitts and trailed by only three-points, 75-72 with 1:03 remaining.

After a Belmont missed shot, Marshall had the chance to tie the game with 38 seconds to play. However, a three-point attempt by Dago Pena missed and the Bruins made all four of their free throw attempts in the final seconds to secure the win.

“We had a great look at the end and unfortunately it didn’t go down,” Herrion said of Pena’s shot.

Forward Scott Saunders was the top performer for Belmont. He recorded 23 points and nine rebounds to lead Belmont to its 22nd consecutive home win.

Marshall shot 41.3 percent from the field but was hurt by 16 turnovers, including six by Pitts. Belmont had 13 turnovers and dominated down low with 40 points in the paint compared to 26 for the Herd.

Marshall’s Yous Mbao had a career-best four blocked shots in 14 minutes of play.

Marshall will next be in action on Sunday when it hosts Akron at 4 p.m.