Ben Hartman made it two in a row.

Hartman kicked his second game-winning field goal in overtime in less than a week as the East Carolina Pirates edged the Marshall Thundering Herd 19-16 Saturday in a battle for sole possession of first place in the East Division of Conference USA.

Hartman, who beat Central Florida with an overtime field goal last Sunday, attempted a 42-yard field goal as time expired in regulation, but the kick sailed to the left.

ECU won the coin toss and Marshall got the ball first in overtime.

The Herd tried a flea-flicker as wide receiver Bryan Milligan passed incomplete to quarterback Mark Cann. The next two plays were incomplete passes by Cann that forced freshman Tyler Warner to attempt a 42-yard field goal. But the kick was wide right and East Carolina held the upper hand.

Quarterback Patrick Pickney threw 13 yards to Dwayne Harris on first down and the Pirates used the next three plays to set up Hartman for the winning kick.

Norman Whitley ran for one and three yards to the Marshall 8-yard line, and then Pickney was tackled for a 2-yard line. Hartman came on and kicked a 27-yard field goal to end the game.

ECU is now 6-3 and 4-1 in C-USA while Marshall falls to 4-5 and 3-2.

Marshall forced the overtime with some late heroics. They held the Pirates with less than two minutes to play and a punt by Matt Dodge traveled just 15 yards to the Pirates’ 40.

With 1:33 to play, Herd quarterback Mark Cann threw 6 yards to Darius Marshall and on the next play connected with tight end Cody Slate for a 34-yards touchdown pass. Warner kicked the extra point to tie the game with 1:21 to go.

East Carolina took a 6-0 lead on a pair of field goals by Ben Hartman that covered 31 and 51 yards.

Marshall cut the deficit in half with a 31-yard field goal by Craig Ratanamorn with 1:41 to play in the first half,

But the Pirates answered with a quick drive that resulted in a touchdown and a 13-3 halftime lead.

Pinkney completed 6-of-8 passes in the 73-yard drive including a 33-yarder to Davon Drew to the Marshall 16. The two combined again for a 5-yard scoring pass with 12 seconds left.

After the second half kickoff, the Herd was backed up on its own 3-yard line to start the next series. But a 51-yard catch-and-run play to Darius Passmore on a third-and-7 put Marshall at the Pirates’ 41.

A 17-yard pass to Darius Marshall got the ball to the Pirates’ 10-yard line. On third and goal, Cann found Slate for a 7-yard touchdown pass.

However, Ratanamorn missed the conversion kick and was benched the rest of the game in favor of Warner.

Hartman kicked a 21-yard field goal with 2:55 left in the third quarter to put the lead at 16-9.

Marshall then tied the game with Cann’s 34-yard strike to Slate.

Marshall 0 3 6 7 = 16

East Carolina 3 10 3 0 = 16

First Quarter

EC– Ben Hartman 31 field goal 3:41

Second Quarter

EC – Ben Hartman 51 field goal 9:19

Ma – Craig Ratanamorn 31 field goal 1:41

EC ¬– Davon Drew 5pass from Patrick Pinkney (Ben Hartman kick) 0:12

Third Quarter

Ma – Cody Slate 7 pass from Mark Cann (kick failed) 10:19

EC – Bent Hartman 21 field goal 2:55

Fourth Quarter

Ma – Cody Slate 34 pass from Mark Cann (Tyler Warner kick) 1:21

Overtime

EC – Ben Hartman 27 field goal

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Mar ECU

First downs 15 20

Rushes-yards 36-149 38-100

Passing yards 137 287

Total yards 286 387

Cmp-Att-Int 13-30-2 26-37-0

Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-1

Penalties-yards 3-20 7-94

Punts-average 4-32.8 5-34.6

Time of Possession 34:09 25:51

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Individual Leaders

RUSHING–Marshall: Darius Marshall 20-123, Chubb Small 12-32, Darius Passmore 1-3, Mark Cann 3-minus 9. East Carolina: Brandon Simmons 7-21, Norman Whitley 23-86, Patrick Pickney 7-13, Dwayne Harris 1-minus 2

PASSING–Marshall: Mark Cann 13-29-2 137, Bryan Milligan 0-1-0. East Carolina: Patrick Pickney 26-37-09 287.

RECEIVING–Marshall: Cody Slate 5-62, Darius Passmore 2-58, Darius Marshall 2-4, Lee Smith 1-7, Chubb Small 1-3, E.J. Wynn 1-2, Bryan Milligan 1-1. East Carolina: NormanWhitley 5-60, Dwayne Harris 5-39, T.J. Lee4-61, Davon Drew 3-51, Brandon Simmons 3-10, Alex Taylor 2-29, Joe Womack 2-23, Darryl Freeney 1-11, J.R. Kraemer 1-3.

MISSED FIELD GOALS: Ben Hartman, ECU, 42 (WL)