— By David Walsh
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Jalen Speer made two three-pointers to open the game and start Marshall to victory over scrappy Mercyhurst, 69-60, in front of 3,543 fans at Cam Henderson Center.
Speer finished with 21 points to lead the Thundering Herd (5-1) to the victory in its first meeting against the Lakers. He converted 7-of-12 shots, including 5 of 9 from behind the arc. Speer also had six assists and six rebounds.
“We don’t lose at home,” Speer said in an interview with ESPN+ after the game. “We come with toughness. Run the offense, control the pace. I look to lead them. I’ve got five years of experience. Hope they keep listening to me.”
Marshall opened at 13-point lead (45-32) with 11:55 to play. That’s when the Lakers (3-4) started to rally and they closed the gap to four (58-54) on a second-chance jumper by Qadir Martin.
Speer then countered with a three with 2:24 to play to push the lead by to seven. The Herd hit its free throws down the stretch to maintain separation.
“I liked we won then game,” Herd head coach Cornelius Jackson said. “I didn’t particularly like the way we played. They want to slow it down. They want us in the 60s. We want the 80s and 90s. It was a grinder.”
Matt Van Komen, the Herd’s 7-foot-4 center, pulled down a team-high 13 rebounds and contributed nine points to just miss a double-double. Caleb Hollenbeck added 12 points thanks to four threes.
Jake Lemelman paced the Lakers with 19 points. Martin totaled 10 as did Bernie Blunt, who came in averaging 17.
Marshall racked up 12 threes on 29 tries and the Lakers made only 3 of 16 from long range.
Hollenbeck said the Herd needs to make more of a presence down low.
“They came out and were more physical than us,” Hollenbeck said. “You could tell at the end of the game. They had more points in the paint than we had. We’ve got shooters who can open things up. We’ve got to get downhill more. Inside, we’ve got to clean that up.”
Speer said his team let the Lakers dictate tempo.
“They hit us in the mouth,” Speer said. “They played the way we didn’t want to play. It almost worked. They want the game in the 60s. We want the opposite.”
It was the first time this season Marshall’s been held below 70 points.
The Herd close a three-game home stand Wednesday against Lipscomb at 4 p.m.