Feb. 21, 2007

Final Stats

Marshall-ECU Gamebook
Download Free Acrobat Reader

GREENVILLE, N.C. - Markel Humphrey (Ellenwood, Ga.) scored 12 points and grabbed ten rebounds to lead the Herd past East Carolina, 54-51, in Conference USA action Wednesday evening at Williams Arena.

With the win, Marshall improves to 11-16, 6-7 in Conference USA, while the Pirates drop to 5-21, 0-13 in league play.

Marshall needed its final possession to win against the feisty Pirates in a game that featured ten ties and seven lead changes.

With the score tied at 51 and 28 seconds to play in regulation, Herd guard Mark Dorris (Cincinnati, Ohio) grabbed a looseball and knocked in a 15-foot jumper from the left baseline to give MU a 53-51 advantage. After a Pirate timeout, East Carolina's Darrell Jenkins took the ball into the lane and had a lay-up rattle in and out; Humphrey grabbed the rebound for Marshall and got the ball out to Chris Ross (San Antonio, Texas), who was fouled. Ross made one of two free throws to give the Pirates one last chance down three, 54-51.

Jenkins had one last shot as time expired. With the clock winding down, Jenkins took a high ball screen from Pirate big man John Fields at the top of the key and barely missed a three that would have sent the game to overtime. The ball dribbled around the rim before falling to the floor, giving Marshall the win.

Although both teams struggled from the floor, Marshall won the battle on the boards, a deciding statistic. Many of them came down the stretch as the Herd kept the Pirates from expanding a one-point lead in the final three minutes and limited ECU to one-and-done on its offensive possessions late in the game. The Herd outrebounded ECU, 45-38, and 28-16 in the second half.

For the game, Marshall shot 37.3% from the floor (19-51) and 23.5% from three (4-17). The Herd shot 70.6% from the free throw line. East Carolina was held to only 29.5% from the floor (18-61) and 15.8% from three (3-19). The Pirates converted 60% of its shots from the charity stripe (12-20).

"Before we came in here, and before we played the game, I told the team, `I know Coach Stokes, and this team is going to be ready. He's a fighter and they're going to fight us,'" said Marshall head coach Ron Jirsa. "It was a difficult game for us, and we were very fortunate to come away with the win tonight."

"I expected this to be a close game," continued Jirsa. "We had some success early in the press, but they got some points in transition, especially on second-chance points. I thought we did a much better job in the second half rebounding the ball. When they have more shots, we have to clean it up a little better. Those extra shots, if we don't corral the rebounds, could have gotten us in trouble."

Humphrey led Marshall with his second double-double in three games with 12 points and ten rebounds, leading all scorers. Dorris was the only other Herd player in double-figures with 11 points. Dorris and Ross, MU's starting backcourt, combined for 14 rebounds on the night. Freshman Tyler Wilkerson (Lexington, Ky.) also came up big for Marshall with six rebounds and two blocks.

ECU freshman forward John Fields added a double-double of his own with 11 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Jenkins was East Carolina's other double-digit scorer with ten points.

Marshall stays on the road and travels to Birmingham for a 4 p.m. EST start at Bartow Arena. The game will be televised on Comcast Sports Southeast, channel 68 on Comcast Cable in Huntington.

###