Pitts leads Marshall by Bearcats in OT

Published 10:19 pm Saturday, November 26, 2011

CINCINNATI (AP) — The longer Marshall hung around the more the Thundering Herd began to play its style of game Friday against Cincinnati. The Herd’s style is to dominate the boards and get offense from backcourt mates Damier Pitts and DeAndre Kane.

Pitts scored 19 points and he and Kane made key 3-pointers to help Marshall overcome a nine-point deficit in the second half for a 73-69 overtime victory in the finale of the Global Sports Challenge.

“Our kids were resilient in our effort, and I thought that we had to be,” said Marshall coach Tom Herrion. “Anytime you come on the road and beat a high-level team like this it’s a testament to our kids’ stick-to-it-ive-ness.”

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Marshall (5-0) lost a five-point lead at the end of regulation, then led by four twice in overtime. Cincinnati (3-2) trailed 71-69 and was going for the tie when Sean Kilpatrick drove into the lane and turned the ball over to Pitts. Pitts was fouled and made two clinching free throws with 8.4 seconds left.

The Herd entered the game with a rebounding margin average of 11 and added to that by dominating the Bearcats 43-30 on the boards, including 24-14 in the second half and overtime. Marshall’s Dennis Tinnon grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds and Robert Goff had five of his six rebounds in the second half.

“Every time they had three or four or five — it was every time,” Cincinnati forward Yancey Gates said of the Herd’s relentless pursuit of rebounds. “With us it was here and there for stretches.”

Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin said the ultimate difference in the game was rebounding.

“They’re a great rebounding team, they’re athletic, physical,” Cronin said. “We didn’t rebound the basketball. The score of this game was 43-30 Marshall.”

Still, Cincinnati had a chance at the end of regulation and overtime because it shot 51.9 percent from the field in the second half. That shooting almost put the Bearcats in control on a 3-pointer by backup guard Ge’Lawn Guyn for a 47-38 lead with 11:29 left. But Marshall rallied with an eight-point run capped by Pitts’ 3-pointer to put the Herd ahead 56-55 with 4:40 left. Marshall built its lead to 61-56 on another 3-pointer by Pitts with 2:04 left.

Cincinnati rallied with a free throw and two baskets by Gates to tie the score at 61-61 and force overtime. The Bearcats held for the final shot but Gates missed and two tries to tip the ball in failed.

Marshall jumped out to a 66-61 lead in overtime on a 3-pointer by Kane and a tip-in by Goff, who scored 11 points. With 1:18 left, Goff hit from 17 feet for a 70-66 lead.

A Dion Dixon free throw with one minute left and two more free throws by Cashmere Wright with 26.2 seconds left pulled Cincinnati to 70-69. Pitts made one of two from the line with 23 seconds left for a 71-69 lead.

“We weren’t real efficient on offense early, but we made big plays down the stretch,” Herrion said.

Marshall, considered to be one of the top challengers to Memphis in Conference USA, is 5-0 for the first time since it started the 1999-2000 season 10-0.

“I can see why people think they’re going to win Conference USA,” Cronin said.

The Bearcats lost for the second time in three games. The other defeat was a 56-54 stunner to Presbyterian last Saturday, when the Bearcats blew a 15-point lead in the second half and fell to a team in only its fifth season at Division I. The Bearcats were ranked No. 20 at the time, and that loss caused them to fall out of the Top 25.

Tinnon added 15 points and Kane 12 for Marshall. Kilpatrick led Cincinnati with 19 points and Gates scored 17.