Nov. 29, 2008
HUNTINGTON, W. Va. (AP) - Tirrell Baines scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds to help Marshall hold off Old Dominion in a 68-64 victory on Saturday.
The Thundering Herd (2-3), who never trailed in the second half, broke a 45-45 tie with 11:55 left in the game on a layup by Tyler Wilkerson. Marshall took its largest lead of the half at 63-58 on Markel Humphrey's 3-pointer with 2:52 remaining.
After trailing by as much as 10 points (45-35) with 15:37 left, ODU tied thegame at 45 with 13:47 left on a jumper by Darius James. ODU trailed by oneat 51-50 with 8:26 left and 57-56 with 5:07 left. A Gerald Lee layup with fiveseconds left cut the lead to 66-64.
Darius James, who finished with 11 points, made a jumper to pull the Monarchs (1-3) within two points with 26 seconds left. The Thundering Herd went up 66-62 with 13 seconds remaining on two free throws by Shaquille Johnson, who finished with 10 points.
Old Dominion's Gerald Lee answered eight-seconds later with a layup. But Baines followed with two free throws to seal the victory for Marshall.
Ben Finney led Old Dominion with 16 points, while Lee, whose uncle Russellwas a standout at Marshall had 10 points. Lee played only six minutes in the firsthalf due to foul trouble.
Finney was five-for-seven from the floor on the night along with four assists.Darius James added 11 points for ODU. Marshall outrebounded the Monarchs, 28-23as Finnney and senior Jonathan Adams led ODU with five boards each.
ODU shot .574(27-47) from the floor,but hit a blistering .680 (17-25) in thesecond half. The Monarchs also hit fifty (7-14) from beyond the arc.
ODU returns to action Wednesday night when they host the Spiders of the Universityof Richmond in the Constant Center. Game time is 7 p.m.