— By David Walsh
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Lipscomb started out connecting on three-point shots it seemed like at will. When it came time to go inside, the Bisons converted on drives to the basket and the popular backdoor cuts.
On the flip side, Marshall had trouble converting from any range in addition to the Bisons solving whatever it put in front of them. The result ended up the Thundering Herd being 32 points down (63-31) with just over 13 minutes left to play. Lipscomb slowed the pace from that point and put a wrap on the night, 90-67, in front of 3,649 stunned Marshall fans Wednesday at Cam Henderson Center.
Marshall coach Corny Jackson had a stern message for his troops after the game.
“Maybe we were thinking about turkey,” said Jackson, knowing Thursday is Thanksgiving. “That’s not the Thanksgiving I wanted. Maybe it’s on me for giving them time off because we’ve been going so many days. I gave them the day off. We probably should’ve been in the gym preparing and making these guys a little tougher.
“Get the message. I don’t care who you play, if you don’t come ready to play anybody can beat you on any given night. We may have needed this. They’ve been playing basketball. You can’t take it for granted. I’m not looking at the scoreboard right now. I’m looking at are we going to learn from this moving forward and hopefully not get caught off guard like this again. They played well. We didn’t have an answer. When we made mistakes, they made us pay.”
Lipscomb, a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference, is 3-4.
Titas Sarquinas, the top three-point shooter for the Bisons, led the offense with 22. Grant Asman added 18, Ethan Duncan 17 and Mateo Esmeraldo 10 along with 10 assists.
After a couple of scoreless possessions, Lipscomb caught fire from beyond the arc with four early triples for a 12-4 lead prior to the first media timeout.
Lipscomb made four early triples to take a 12-4 lead before the first media timeout. The Bisons went on a 22-7 run, which saw the team build a 26-7 advantage at the under-eight timeout.
Marshall (5-2) would launch an 11-0 run, cutting into the Lipscomb lead 36-23 with 2:59 left in the half. Lipscomb’s offense began to taper off from the electric start, but its defense forced 11 turnovers in the opening 18 minutes to keep the gap at double-digits with two minutes left in the frame. The Bisons scored the final two buckets of the half to take a 43-27 advantage into the halftime locker room.
It was more of the same the second half with one brief Herd run aided by Kai Speers who went 13-plus minutes. The Bisons scored two quick back-door buckets, making the score 47-28 and the Herd called timeout.
Marshall would go on a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to 67-48 and prompt a timeout by the Bisons. Kenny Okpara came out and hit a three for a 70-48 lead with just under eight minutes left and the visitors never looked back. Lipscomb totaled 13 threes for the second game this season. They had a season-high 16 in the game before against Western Carolina.
“They came on the road and outplayed us,” Jackson said. “The way they started. They were on fire. They were a team struggling shooting the basketball, but they were still eighth in the country in three points. They felt really good about their three-pointers. I knew this would be a game where we had to watch out because they’re big and they don’t play a lot in the post. They hang around the perimeter.
“They were able to get around on the backdoor cuts and everything We knew they were going to play that. At our scout meeting yesterday, we shared that with our guys. Watch the back door. We didn’t execute that. For whatever reason we kept jumping out. They were physical. They got their hands on a lot of balls. We can’t beat anyone when you shoot 35 (percent) and 23 (percent) and have 17 turnovers.”
Noah Otshudi led Marshall with 18 points and Wyatt Fricks added 16. Spears made all seven free throws and totaled nine points. The Herd made just 22-of-62 shots, including 6-of-26 from behind the arc.
“You’re looking for a spark in the second half. Kai’s the energy guy,” Jackson said. “He stayed ready for the moment. He knows his role. We put some of the younger guys in. Just wanted to bring some energy. I didn’t think we had the juice we needed that I want this team to play with. It’s an honor to put on the Marshall jersey We come out and don’t play with passion. That bothers me. So I put some guys in to do that. They did.
Spears enjoyed the playing time, but knew it meant little with a one-sided night in favor of the visiting team.
“It was a good opportunity. I knew I was going to be ready for it. I’ve been working,” Spears said. “But it doesn’t mean anything for the guys. We’ve got to get back to work.
We just need to start out a little bit better. We’ve got to pull together as one group and we know that. Just execute. That’s all we need to do.”
Otshudi knows there’s work to be done by everyone before the next game. Marshall’s back in action Dec. 3 at UNC Wilmington and Dec. 6 against rival Ohio University in Athens.
“There’s always a spark on the bench. Everybody can play that role,” Otshudi said. “A guy like Kai, he works every day, stays ready for the moment. His number got called, he came in and gave us a lot of energy.
“They had a lot of shooters. They ran lots of cuts, lots of backdoors. It was kind of a lot of motion and we got caught up in it. They punched us in the mouth in the first half. The second, you know we’ve been in that position before. I come in trying to pick up the guys. Give us some energy and try to climb out of the hole we dug ourselves.”