Marshall Thumps Alice Lloyd to End Losing Skid
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Back home after a four-game road swing, the Marshall men's basketball team got back to winning form against Alice Lloyd with a 121-57 victory to snap a four-game losing streak, Tuesday night at Cam Henderson Center.
With the win, the Thundering Herd improved to 5-6, while the Eagles fell to 6-6.
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Keeping with the trend of the season, Marshall had an even scoring distribution as six members of the Herd scored in double figures, with four coming off the bench.
Leading the way in scoring was freshman forward Ryan Taylor (Indianapolis, Ind.) with 25 points on 10-of-13 shooting, setting a career high in scoring. Three-time Conference USA Freshman of the Week, Kareem Canty (Harlem, N.Y.) scored 11 points and recorded a career high 14 assists for his third career double-double.
Sophomore guard Chris Thomas (Denver) added 19 points in 21 minutes and sophomore guard Tamron Manning (Georgetown, Ky.) contributed 11 points, tying a season high. Junior forward Shawn Smith (Sacramento, Calif.) recorded his first double-double on 18 points and 12 rebounds, with both figures marking career highs.
Freshman guard Austin Loop(South Webster, Ohio) rounded out the double-figure scorers with a 17-point performance, marking a career best, on 4-of-7 shooting from three-point land.
The two sides exchanged early baskets for a 2-2 score with 18:59 until the break, but the game would not be tied for long as Marshall pulled ahead.
With an opportunity to impose its will, the Herd did just that early on to take a 40-16 lead with 7:09 remaining in the first half. To that point, Taylor had 11 points in 11 minutes, while Thomas had 10 points in 10 minutes.
At the 13:04 mark, Marshall led 19-14 and after a 21-2 run that spanned 5:55, the Herd had gained a 24-point advantage soon after the eight-minute media timeout.
As a result of balanced scoring and control of the boards, numerous Marshall players put themselves in position to record double-doubles by the end of the night.
At the half, the Herd held a 54-30 advantage on the scoreboard and a 26-14 edge on the boards. Through the first 20 minutes, Thomas led Marshall in scoring with 12 points, while Canty added 10 assists in 17 minutes on the floor.
In the second half, Marshall did not let up on the Eagles as multiple Marshall bench players were able to reach double-digits in scoring in the second half of play.
While continuing to extend its lead through the second 20 minutes of play, the Herd took its largest lead of the game, 64 points, with 32 seconds remaining as freshman walk-on Kevin McNair (Atlanta, Ga.) sank a pair of free throws, giving his side a 121-57 edge that would last until the final buzzer.
The 64-point margin of victory ties for the second highest in the history of the program, with the best being an 84-point win against Salem, Dec. 3, 2009.
Marshall finished the night with a 64.7 field goal percentage on 44-of-68 shooting. The percentage marks a season high for the Herd, as does the 121 point offensive showing. The 121-point performance is the highest offensive effort from a C-USA men's basketball program this season.
From beyond the arc, the Herd found success by connecting on 15 of its 26 attempts, with its 15 three-pointers ranking seventh all-time in program history in three-point field goals made in a game.
With more height than Alice Lloyd, Marshall was able to outrebound the Eagles, 54-32, as senior center Yous Mbao (RuPisque, Senegal) pulled in a game-high and career high 14 rebounds.
The Thundering Herd will play host to Arkansas State, Saturday, Dec. 21, at 7 p.m. before taking nine days off for Christmas break.
In-game Twitter updates @HerdMBB, results and a recap from the night's action will be available at HerdZone.com.