BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Marshall survived and advanced to the Conference USA semifinals Thursday night with a gritty 64-63 victory over Old Dominion in the quarterfinal round.
Stevie Browning followed up his impressive opening round performance with 24 points and five rebounds.
Jon Elmore had 15 points on the evening, the most important of which being the game-winning free-throw he hit after being fouled by ODU’s Ahmad Caver with two seconds remaining.
“Coach has preached all year to us, no matter what the time is, go make a play,” Elmore said. “He doesn’t put any limitations on us. I just went out and made a play.”
Marshall (19-14) opened the game on a 15-0 run, holding the Monarchs scoreless until the 11:59 mark of the first half.
But Old Dominion (19-12) roared back with a 24-6 run of its own, holding the Herd scoreless for nine minutes en route to taking a two-point halftime lead.
“We didn’t want to let them comeback but it happened,” Browning said. “But that’s a testament to the adversity we’ve faced all year. We pushed through and fought together.”
The second half remained tight, with neither team gaining more than a four-point advantage.
Marshall was outrebounded and outshot from beyond the three-point line. The difference-maker, however, was free-throw shooting. The Herd went 14-20 from the stripe while Old Dominion went just 3-6.
The Herd will play its third game in three days Friday afternoon when it takes on No. 2-seed Louisiana Tech in the Conference USA semifinals. The Bulldogs, who defeated UAB 69-57 Thursday, won this season’s lone meeting against Marshall on Feb. 4.
Tip off from the Legacy Arena is set for 3:00 eastern.