— By David Walsh
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — When it got to crunch time on this occasion, Marshall’s Taevion Kinsey and Jarrod West made the key plays needed to allow the Thundering Herd to edge Old Dominion, 68-67, in Conference USA men’s play Saturday night at Cam Henderson Center.
Kinsey hit two jumpers on isolation moves and added a layup when he blew past a Monarchs defender to turn a 54-all tie into a 64-57 lead for Marshall.
Old Dominion, which lost 71-69 at Western Kentucky on Thursday night, battled back and took the lead at 65-64 on a layup by Malik Curry.
But with the shot clock winding down, West drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 1:13 to play to put Marshall up 67-65. The Monarchs responded again, getting even at 67 on a layup by Aaron Carver with 47 seconds left.
Old Dominion then had a chance to take the lead, but turned the ball over with 18 seconds to go and fouled Kinsey on the play. He made the first throw for a 68-67 lead, but missed the second. The Monarchs got the rebound and worked for a final shot only to see Curry miss a jumper with a second to go.
“The guys stepped up to the challenge,” Kinsey said. “They showed the fire I talked about last game. I love the ball in my hands. I just felt it. At that point, I was locked in.”
“Get used to TK making a lot of plays,” Herd coach Dan D’Antoni said. “He needs to get the short-range jumper going. He’s got the leaping ability. He’s a joy to watch, a joy to coach.”
Marshall (9-10, 3-3 in C-USA) is back in action Wednesday at home against Western Kentucky, which handed Charlotte its first defeat earlier Saturday, 80-63, in Bowling Green, Ky. Tip is 7 p.m. with the second half of the home-and-home series Saturday at Western Kentucky at 7:30 p.m.
Kinsey paced the Marshall attack with 18 points and a team-high four assists. West, who hounded Curry all night, added 15 points and 6-foot-9 Iran Bennett contributed 12 points and six offensive rebounds. The Herd finished with a season-low eight turnovers.
“Jarrod’s our bulldog,” Kinsey said. “I knew he was going to hit that shot.”
On Old Dominion’s last-second play, Kinsey said he believed the Herd had the confidence to get the stop.
“Got faith the shot’s going to be contested. We’re not scared of that moment,” Kinsey said. “Stay calm and play team defense the way to know how.”
D’Antoni liked the contributions the Herd received from up and down its roster.
“Our two main warriors did an outstanding job,” D’Antoni said. “Iran had good presence in the paint. Everybody chipped in.”
Curry led Old Dominion (6-12, 2-3 C-USA) with 20 points, one off his career high. Jason Wade hit for 15. Carver had a game-high 17 rebounds. The Monarchs won the board battle, 51-33, with 25 rebounds on the offensive end.
“When these two teams meet, they are good games, hard-played games that go back and forth and the game hinges on one or two plays,” Old Dominion coach Jeff Jones said. “This is frustrating, given where we have been our last three games, and is hard on our kids losing these tough ones when they are giving everything that they can. We’re not great now in unsettled situations. We just have to get a little bit better at finishing.”
D’Antoni and Jones spoke highly of West’s contributions.
“Jarrod’s not afraid of the moment,” D’Antoni said. “He’s got the attitude, ‘I’m going to get it done'”
“He’s a tough kid,” Jones said. “Everything about him is tough. He’ll stick his nose in there, take the big shot. He’s stepped up as the leader of this team. He’s a winner.”
West had one steal and forced Curry into five turnovers to raise his career steal total for 183. That’s No. 3 in program history. The Herd five steals overall to bring the season total to 178. Five blocked shots bring that season to 118.
Xavier Green, Old Dominion’s top scorer at 12.9 per game, had just nine (4-of-15 from the field including 1-of-6 from behind the arc).
Old Dominion leads the all-time series with Marshall, 11-10, but the Herd is 7-3 on its home floor.
Saturday’s attendance was a season-high 6,445.