— By David Walsh
Marshall trailed by 17 points in the second half, cut the deficit to four late, but the University of North Carolina Wilmington produced the necessary offense to hold off the Thundering Herd, 78-69, in a Saturday matinee in front of 4,811 at Trask Coliseum in Wilmington, N.C.
The Seawolves opened a 62-45 lead with 12:19 left in the second half. Then Marshall started its comeback led by Nate Martin. The 6-foot-7 Martin, who missed most of the first half due to foul trouble, finished with 10 points and nine rebounds. He got all 10 in the second half.
Martin had two baskets to cut the deficit to 72-66 with 48 seconds left. Donovan Newby drew a foul with 47 seconds to go, but the 89 percent-shooter missed both free throws to leave the lead at six for the Seawolves. After the two misses, Marshall had a turnover on a bad pass and Sean Moore responded with a layup for a 74-66 lead with 34 seconds left. From that point, the home team got two baskets from Bo Montgomery to offset a three by the Herd’s Will Moore to get the final margin.
UNCW is 7-2 with its fourth straight win. Marshall falls to 5-4.
“I spoke about on the road you have to have a big-time focus,” first-year Marshall coach Corny Jackson said. “Do the little things right. You come into a tough environment. You can’t go 10-of-24 at the foul line and win a basketball game. They go 22-of-27 and we lose by 9. That really sums it up. I wish we’d fought with desperation the whole game the way we did the last five minutes.”
UNCW allowed the Herd to roar back as it went more than six minutes late in the second half without a field goal. The Seawolves had a 1-of-12 stretch before the baskets by Moore and Montgomery. They entered the game averaging just over 20 points a contest at the line.
Mikal Dawson, who’s been on a tear lately from three, led the Herd with 12, but the Huntington native and Akron transfer only had two baskets from behind the arc. Dezayne Mingo added 10 as did Martin.
Newby led the Seawolves with 18 points. Moore hit for 14, with two of his team’s four threes, and grabbed 16 rebounds for a double-double. Khamar McGriff finished with 13.
Outside of free throws, the teams closed about even in bench points, points in the paint and rebounds. UNC Wilmington did have a 19-8 edge in points off turnovers.
“Basically it came down to the foul line,” Jackson said. “I reminded the guys that on the road you have to bring a certain type of focus. We shoot free throws every day after practice. Maybe next week we stop shooting free throws. Take a look at it. So the guys can hopefully step up and knock them down.”
With Martin and Anochili-Killen in early foul trouble, Jackson liked the way the subs held up.
“The young guys stepped up. Those guys held it down,” Jackson said. “They didn’t do anything to surprise us. At the end of the day it’s about making plays.”
Marshall returns to action Wednesday against Wright State in Dayton. Start time is 7:30 p.m.
“Wright State’s a really good basketball team,” Jackson said. “It’s not going to be easy. We have to bring our A game, prepare with right mindset to win. Games like this help us prepare for the Sun Belt.”
Cade Gibbs also had first-half foul trouble for the Herd. Greedy Williams made two free throws with 46 seconds left in the half for a 44-34 lead at the break.
The win gives UNC Wilmington a 4-3 lead in the series. The promotion Saturday as the annual Toys for Tots collection game.