With its backs against the wall, Marshall delivered.
As a result, the Herd advance to the quarterfinal round of the Sun Belt Conference Championship at Pensacola Bay Center.
With the game tied at 76 against No. 8 seed Georgia State, the fifth-seeded Herd got a conventional three-point play from Obinna Anochili-Killen off a lob pass from Dezayne Mingo with 1.8 seconds left to make all the difference in a 79-76 victory.
“It’s tournament time. We had guys make plays down the stretch,” MU head coach Cornelius Jackson said on the ESPN+ postgame broadcast. “That last play was a heck of a pass by Dezayne.”
𝗢𝗕𝗜𝗡𝗡𝗔 𝗜𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗟𝗨𝗧𝗖𝗛.@Herd_MBB takes the lead on Obinna Anochili Killen’s basket and he completes the three-point play to put Marshall ahead by three with 1.8 seconds to go. #SunBeltMBB ☀️🏀 pic.twitter.com/YtAMLZnum1
— Sun Belt (@SunBelt) March 8, 2025
With its fifth straight win, Marshall (20-12) advances to face No. 4 seed Arkansas State at 6:30 p.m. Saturday for a spot in a Sun Belt semifinal.
The Herd trailed for much of the matchup, including 39-34 at halftime and 72-66 with 5:03 remaining after the Panthers (14-19) got a three-pointer from Zarique Nutter.
But starting with Jalen Speer’s trey in response, MU outscored 13-4 over the final 4:39 to prevail.
Mingo’s jumper at the 3-minute mark tied the game at 72, and he made two free throws 18 seconds later to put the Herd in front for the first time since it was 24-23.
Cesare Edwards got Georgia State even with two free throws, but Mingo countered with a go-ahead jumper with 50 seconds left.
Malachi Brown then scored on a runner in the paint to pull the Panthers even, and they had a chance at a late lead after Nick McMullen was fouled while rebounding a Speer miss with 12 seconds left. But McMullen missed the front end of a 1-and-1, and then got caught trailing Anochili-Killen as he rolled to the bucket, with Mingo finding him at the rim for the winning bucket.
“He’s clutch. He’s an all-league guy,” Jackson said of Anochili-Killen. “He’s experienced and a veteran that’s used to winning. He won in high school and now at Marshall, he’s helped us win.”
Mingo’s 19 points led Marshall and he added eight assists to match Georgia State’s team total.
Speer scored 18 and Anochili-Killen finished with 16 points and four blocked shots while battling foul trouble.
Panthers’ freshman Jelan Hamilton scored 19 of his game-high 28 points in the first half. Nutter and Edwards added 19 and 15 points, respectively.
The Herd defeated Arkansas State 77-72 on February 5 in the only meeting this season between the two teams.