RELEASE
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Duane Notice scored 27 points and Mindaugas Chatkevicius added 15 as the South Carolina Gamecocks defeated the Marshall men’s basketball team 77-59 Monday evening at the Cam Henderson Center.
South Carolina improved to 4-3 on the season, while the Thundering Herd fell to 3-4.
The Gamecocks stormed out to a large lead in the first half thanks to a 12-0 run from the 18:07 mark to 13:51 to go. From there, the Gamecocks continued to hold the Herd to relatively low scoring, finishing the first period with a lead of 39-20. The Gamecocks were led by Notice and Chatkevicius, who each scored 13 points. For Marshall, senior JP Kambola (Toronto, Ontario) and redshirt sophomore Austin Loop (South Webster, Ohio) led the way in the first half, with five points apiece. South Carolina held the Herd to just 17.2 percent shooting in the first, while shooting 47 percent on the game.
Marshall was able to bring the crowd to life in the second half with a 3-pointer from Kambola and a layup from freshman Milan Mijovic (Belgrade, Serbia) with 11:40 to go. Previously in the half, redshirt sophomore Ryan Taylor (Indianapolis) had scored 5 consecutive points for the Herd, but fell into foul trouble. The Gamecocks rallied with a Justin McKie jumper and Notice layup off a Kambola turnover.
Marshall was able to cut the lead to 14 late in the game. A technical foul and personal foul for Demetrious Henry gave Loop and Taylor two free throws each. Freshman Aleksa Nikolic (Pancevo, Serbia) then hit two shots from the stripe for six straight Marshall points. Redshirt junior Justin Edmonds (Albion, Mich.) scored 5 consecutive points for Marshall as well, but the deficit was too large for the Herd.
The Herd was led in scoring by Taylor, who finished the game with 11 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists before fouling out. Loop scored 10 points, added 4 rebounds and went 4-4 from the line. Nine Herd players scored on the evening and Johnson snared 11 rebounds, six on the offensive end.
To go with his 27 points, Notice added 5 rebounds, 3 assists and went 5-5 from the free throw line. He had an efficient shooting night as well, going 10-18 from the floor. Chatkevicius finished with a 7-9 shooting effort.
Marshall will play its next game at home Saturday at 6 p.m. against Penn State at the Cam Henderson Center in a game that will also be televised by CBS Sports Network.