Marshall Men’s Basketball Wins in Second-Half Nail Biting Comeback

By Ben Anderson

    The saying “It’s not over till the final buzzer” proved to be the case on Saturday night, as Marshall men’s basketball defeated Wright State 76-74 at the Cam Henderson Center.

    “What a game,” Marshall men’s basketball head coach Cornelius ‘Corny’ Jackson said. “We’d make a run, they’d answer and vice versa. I’m glad we were able to outlast them. We knew they were going to be a tough game. They’re better than their record.”

    The final minute of the contest played out like a movie. Wright State’s Sam Alamutu drilled a three from the logo with 0:54 remaining to give the Raiders a 71-70 lead.  Wyatt Fricks responded with a three from the top to give the Herd a 73-71 lead that proved to be the dagger. 

    “It was just good to show up for my team.” Fricks said. “It’s showing up, working all the time, so I was confident taking it. It was good to see it go in. Hearing the crowd burst, that’s definitely an energy boost. So, like I said, seeing it go in, that was the best part.”’

    The Raiders took control of the game in the first half, outscoring the Herd 39-32 with freshman Michael Cooper leading the team with 17 points, on 7-for-10 shooting including 3-for-4 from behind the arc. The Herd struggled especially with shooting going 3-for-15 from trifecta and turning the ball over eight times. Fricks said that the biggest struggle for the Herd was responding to the tempo from the Raiders. 

    “I think they just us up a little bit in the first half,” Fricks said. “They got up into us. We weren’t taking care of the ball as much. It’s taking care of the ball and not letting teams beat us up, and we want to play at our pace, not someone else’s pace.”

    “We showed the guys some things on the screen that we can do a litter better and then, gave them a spirited pep talk.” Jackson said about the halftime message to the team. “I thought they came out and they responded.”

    The Herd picked up the intensity in the second half, going on a 11-2 run that started with a Matt Van Komen jumper at the 18:32 mark to a Noah Otshudi layup with 15:57 remaining to tie the game at 43-all. 

    Otshudi, after being held to just 9 points in the first half, took over with the game tied at 63, as he scored the next 7 points for the Thundering Herd to give it a 68-66 lead with less than two minutes remaining. 

    “I got subbed out, I got a couple of turnovers at the end (of the first half), some sloppy ones,” Otshudi said. “So, the coaches sat me down, just got me to relax and just told me to be aggressive. So, I came in, just stayed ready. I knew the opportunity was going to come. Luckily, I just made those shots, got the line, made those two. So, definitely helped us in the end of the stretch.”

    Fricks, led the team in scoring with 19 points on 6-for-7 shooting. Otshudi ended the night with 18 on 6-for-9 from the field. Jalen Speer dropped 14 on 6-for-18 on the floor. Leading the way for the Raiders was Cooper, finishing the night with 22 points, on 9-for-13 from the field, and grabbing five rebounds. 

    Matt Van Komen had a career night defensively, swatting away a career-high 7 shots including 3 in a row in one possession at the at the 16:50 mark in the second half.

    “That’s the Matt we’ve been waiting for,” Fricks said. “I feel like heh kind of had a slow start kind of figuring out how to, he’s played a little bit more on the perimeter guarding guys, not as much as stuck in the paint like he’s been at previous schools. Seven blocks from Matt, that’s something that he’s got to have almost every night for us. So, having that defensive anchor down low, it’s a benefit for us.”

    The Thundering Herd improved to 7-4 with the win, while Wright State fell to 5-6.

    Wright State returns home on Tuesday night against the Miami OH RedHawks. Marshall begins Sun Belt Conference play on the road Saturday night against the Troy Trojans. 

    “Troy’s a tough team,” Jackson said. “They’re better than the record. They’re conference champions still because no one’s won it yet. So, we’re going to play the conference champs. We just got keep building day in and day out.”