Courtesy of Marshall University

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - The Thundering Herd held off a late run by East Tennessee State to come away with an 80-76 win over the Buccaneers in the Henderson Center Tuesday night.

Marshall took the lead for good at the 2:59 mark in the first half at 23-22, and saw its lead grow to as many as 19 points midway through the second half.

However, ETSU chipped away at the Herd's lead the rest of the way and got to within three with 1:05 remaining at 74-71. With the Bucs pressuring Marshall full court on the ensuing possession, Joe Miles knifed through two defenders and found a wide open Mark Patton for a layup to push the MU lead back up to 76-71. The Herd held on in the final minute by making four out of six free throws.

Both teams got off to a slow start to the game with the scoreboard showing only 18 points collectively for both teams 10 minutes into the contest.

"In our first two games we played two very different teams," said head coach Ron Jirsa. "We went from playing a big team on the road to playing a very small, fast team at home. I think the way we were able to effectively make the transition between the two shows a lot about our team.

"We had high percentage shots to start the game, but we didn't let those missed shots get us down. We were still able to play our game. I thought that showed a real maturity in our team."

For the game, Marshall shot only 39.1 percent from the floor (25-64), while ETSU shot 37.5 percent (24-64). ETSU out-rebounded Marshall, 45-43, and committed 23 turnovers, compared to the Herd's 20.

Each member of the Herd's starting five scored in double figures, with A.W. Hamilton leading the way with 16 points.

He also added seven assists, three rebounds, and two steals in 33 minutes of action. Enoch Bunch chipped in 13 points, David Anderson poured in 12, while Miles and Patton added 12 and ten points, respectively. LaVar Carter also had a good night for the Herd with seven points, nine rebounds, and three blocked shots in 19 minutes of play.

The Bucs' heralded point guard Tim Smith had a stellar day with 35 points. Smith was 11-of-30 from the floor and 10-of-12 from the free throw line. He also added four steals in 34 minutes of action. Ben Rhoda, James Anthony and Travis Strong each added 10 points, with Anthony also tallying a double-double with 10 rebounds.

East Tennessee State (1-1)

Dillion Sneed 0-1 (0-0) 0-0 0, Chris Mitchell 2-3 (0-0) 3-6 7, Ben Rhoda 4-8 (0-0) 2-4 10, Tim Smith 11-30 (3-8) 10-12 35, James Anthony 2-6 (1-2) 5-6 10, Sam Oakman 1-3 (0-2) 0-0 2, Aaron Scott 0-1 (0-0) 0-1 0, Travis Strong 3-10 (1-3) 3-3 10, Andrew Reed 1-2 (0-0) 0-0 2. Totals: 24-64 (5-15) 23-32 76. Fouls: 27. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 14-31=45 (Anthony 10, Mitchell 10). Assists: 8 (Rhoda, Anthony, Mitchell 2). Turnovers: 23. Steals: 11 (Smith 4).

Marshall

(1-1)

David Anderson 6-11 (0-0) 0-0 12, Mark Patton 4-5 (0-0) 2-2 10, A.W. Hamilton 4-9 (2-4) 6-7 16, Enoch Bunch 4-8 (2-3) 3-4 13, Joe Miles 2-13 (1-9) 7-8 12, Ryan Lamb 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Ronny Dawn 2-8 (2-8) 1-2 7, Casey Wholleb 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Tre Whitted 0-3 (0-0) 3-4 3, LaVar Carter 3-6 (0-0) 1-2 7, Collins Okafor 0-1 (0-0) 0-0 0. Totals: 25-64 (7-24) 23-29 80. Fouls: 24. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 11-32=43 (Patton 9, Carter 9, Anderson 6). Assists: 18 (Hamilton 7, Miles 5). Turnovers: 20. Steals: 7 (Patton, Hamilton, Miles 2).

Halftime: Marshall 31, ETSU 28. Attendance: 4,207. Officials: Tom Clark, Bill Kaminski,John LaRocca.