— By David Walsh
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Nate Martin and Dezayne Mingo had double-doubles and Marshall finished with five players in double figures and charged back in the second half to defeat Arkansas State, 77-72, Wednesday night at Cam Henderson Center.
Martin led the Thundering Herd with 18 points and 14 rebounds. Mingo tallied 14 points and dished out 10 assists. Mikal Dawson closed with 15 points, Wyatt Fricks 12 and Obinna Anochili-Killen 11 to with four blocks.
“Great team win,” first-year Herd coach Cornelius Jackson said. “We talked about how good they are as we prepared. Had to remind them we’re good, too.”
Arkansas State (18-6, 9-3 Sun Belt) still leads the league. The Red Wolves saw their win streak end at seven. They are 13-3 in their last 16 games.
The Herd (15-10, 8-4) is in a five-way tie for second in the league standings. Marshall is off until February 13 when it starts a four-game road swing against South Alabama.
The Herd had different players come through in its second-half run. Fricks made three straight threes, Mingo had a 5-point burst and Dawson finally hit a three to keep the home team lead at six (70-64) with 2:23 left. Terrance Ford Jr. drained a shot behind the arc at 2:09 to get the Red Wolves within three again at 70-67 . From that point, the Herd converted foul shots when needed to secure the win.
“Guard your yard and get stops,” Martin said.
Anochili-Killen converted a layup off a pass from Martin on a pick-and-roll for a 41-37 lead with 17:18 left and the Herd maintained the upper hand the rest of the way. Its biggest lead was 11 (59-48) with 10:08 to play.
Joseph Pinion led Arkansas State with 21 points. He made four threes. Kobe Julien added 15 and Taryn Todd 13.
Marshall had a 42-35 edge in rebounds. It also led the Red Wolves in points in the paint, 32-26; second-chance points, 20-8; and bench points, 12-5. Marshall made five of its seven threes in the second half. Arkansas State made 10 threes.
In the first half, the Herd had to play catchup. The Red Wolves once led 16-6, but Marshall pulled even at 26 on a layup by Martin with the assist from Anochili-Killen.
Arkansas State got a free throw with 3:45 left to go up 27-26 and start a 9-0 run. A big play was a 4-point play by Pinion. He drew a foul on a three-point try, made it and then sank the free throw for a 33-26 lead. Taryn Todd dropped two of three free throws with 1:01 for a 35-26 advantage.
With the shot clock winding down, Dawson made a long-distance three to make the score 35-29 at the half.
Each team took 14 shots from behind the arc in the first half. The Red Wolves sank five to two for Marshall. The visitors got 10 of 14 at the foul line to 3 of 4 for Marshall. The Herd did not go on the bonus in the first half.
Pinion and Julien each had nine points for Arkansas State in the first half.
Martin paced Marshall with 10 points and eight rebounds. Jalen Speer went 1-of-5 from three and Dawson 1-of-6 in the first half.
The Sun Belt Conference contest had a 9 p.m. start for national telecast on ESPNU. Attendance was 4,309 for the nationally-televised affair.