— By David Walsh
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Another crunch time opportunity for Marshall, which was a point down with under 2 minutes to play.
This time, the Thundering Herd delivered, made plays and won out. Wyatt Fricks and Jalen Speer saw to that and powered Marshall past Georgia State, 84-80, in a Sun Belt Conference thriller on New Year’s Eve in front of 3,684 fans at Cam Henderson Center.
Speer would finish with a game-high 26 points to go with seven rebounds and seven assists. Fricks, a fifth-year man, added 21 points and six boards. The bigger deal is when those points came.
Jakai Newton’s two free throws with 1:58 left put the Panthers up, 75-74. Speer scored on a drive with 1:39 left to put the Herd ahead to stay, 76-75. After a miss by the Panthers, Fricks tallied on a strong move to the basket for a 78-75 lead with 47 seconds to play. After another miss by the visitors, they had to foul and Noah Otshudi sank two free throws with 28 seconds to go for an 80-75 cushion.
Micah Tucker then made a layup for the Panthers with 22 seconds to go to cut the deficit to 80-77. With 19 seconds on the clock, Caleb Hollenbeck nailed two free throws for an 82-77 lead for the Herd.
The Panthers wouldn’t quit. Ayouba Berthe drained a long three with 11 seconds left to cut the deficit to 82-80. On the press, Otshudi got free deep and rammed home a dunk with six seconds left to seal the win.
“Good to bring in the new year with a win,” Herd coach Corny Jackson said. “Two teams going back and forth. Obviously at the end we were able to make plays. Proud of the guys. The two guys (Fricks and Speer) sitting next to me. They made a lot of winning plays. Look at the score, 26 and 21. They made a lot of money plays out there. How good was it to see that kind of effort? That’s what’s it about. We have to have guys making money plays. When they do things like that, they make me look like a heck of a coach.”
Jackson and Speer made a tip of the hat to Fricks for enduring a long, trying career. He played behind Obinna Anochili-Killen for four years, now he’s stepping up.
“Did you hear that? I’ve been with him the whole time,” Jackson said regarding Fricks. “He never moaned. Yeah he was unhappy because he wants to play. But he brought it every day. Having the success he’s having is a credit to him, Marshall, Huntington, West Virginia. That’s a credit to the atmosphere. He started with Dan (coach Dan D’Antoni). He could’ve easily left. Why would I sit behind a guy for four years? That’s a credit to everybody doing their part. We can only be successful if we have everybody. He’s a testimony to that. If he didn’t like it, he would just leave. Stays a fifth year at the same place. I’m loving it for him. Obviously we want him to have another game like this.”
“We love to play transition. He’s our best transition guy,” Speer said. “Try to get it to him. I think that was an aggressive take to the basket and it kind of flipped the momentum. A lot of guys around camp, they love him.”
Limited roles often don’t work well for a player, but Fricks handled it. Bided his time and now the spotlight has gone to him.
“Coach Jackson needs this body. Be consistent with this level of play,” Fricks said. “These are the kinds of moments you live for. Game’s tight, goes down to the end and the crowd’s behind you. When you’re on the court, you get the feel for things. Just being behind the guys and learning from them was important. And kind of lead these guys and get them to understand what it takes to win. I have to step up and be able to play confidently. Struggling a little bit, but still find a way to have an impact and help our team win. I’m going to be there four years, play behind Obinna. I lived with that. I’m making the best of my moment now. Been thinking about that for four years.”
With the win in its SBC home opener, Marshall is 9-5 overall and 1-1 in the league.
Landen Joseph finished with 10 points for the Herd.
Trey Scott III and Jelani Hamilton each scored 15 for the Panthers. Tucker netted 14 and Joah Chappelle 10.
Georgia State, which had a two-game win streak halted, is 4-11, 1-2 SBC. The Panthers fall to 1-8 in road games. Their next home game isn’t until Jan. 8 against Appalachian State. They came in with a 20.8 average in points off the bench. They prevailed in a big way this game, 39-18.
Marshall, which leads this series 7-2, hit for seven of its 12 threes in the second half.
Georgia State led 50-44 with 14:23 to go thanks to a 9-0 run. The Herd regained control and outscored the visitors, 40-30, the rest of the way.
The Herd’s next game is Saturday at home against Appalachian State.