The Associated Press

T.

Monday, January 24, 2000

T.J. Lux had a game to remember. So did Shaun Stonerook, although the memory won’t be as sweet. Lux had 36 points and 20 rebounds in leading Northern Illinois to a 92-74 victory over Marshall.

”He must have magnets in his hands and the ball must be metal,” Marshall center J.R. VanHoose said with admiration.

Meanwhile, Stonerook was totaling 21 points and 21 rebounds – but Ohio lost to Western Michigan 78-74 in overtime.

”We were never able to find anyone to contain Stonerook,” Western coach Bob Donewald said. ”He had an incredible performance.”

Lux plays bigger than his actural size, Marshall coach Greg White said. ”He’s 6-foot-10, but he’s 7-2 with that arm span.”

”Things seemed to snowball,” said Lux, who hit double figures in both points and rebounds with 7:20 left in the first half. ”I had a lot of energy. My legs felt great today.”

Leon Rogers had 26 points and 10 rebounds for Northern, but his effort was lost in Lux’s big night.

VanHoose’s 18 points paced Marshall (13-4, 5-3).

The Thundering Herd hosts Ball State Monday night in a MAC game.

At Ohio, the Bobcats dropped their third overtime game of the season despite Stonerook’s heroics.

”It’s very frustrating for us. We’ve lost so many close games,” said Stonerook, who also led Ohio with four assists. ”It’s not who we play – it’s ourselves that we need to work on. It wasn’t what they did; it was what we did.”

Ohio (11-9, 4-4) had 19 turnovers and shot 38 percent from the field.

Tony Barksdale came off the bench to score 15 points – including all the points in a 5-0 overtime run – to power the Broncos.

Thadus Williams led the Broncos (7-9, 3-4) with 25 points.

”This was a team victory for us,” Donewald said. ”We found different ways to make contributions throughout the game. There was no magic, no key to the game.”

Three players fouled out and seven others finished the game with four fouls apiece. There were 58 fouls called and the teams combined to shoot 78 free throws.