Cody Linn
Marshall Athletics

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — With all five starters scoring at least 10 points, Marshall men’s basketball (14-14, 8-7 C-USA) takes down the Old Dominion Monarchs by a final of 74-66 on Saturday night in the Cam Henderson Center to open “Bonus Play.”
“It was a very physical game,” Marshall head coach Dan D’Antoni said after the victory.
“They (ODU) came in and were very physical. I thought we held up in there and were more physical. It was a good win. We’re on track. Defensively we keep getting better. We have to make free throws when it counts. Win or lose, just making shots, we have to get everyone to do that. That’s what teams in the tournament do.”
Redshirt junior Jannson Williams scored 14 points and wrangled up a career-high 13 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. The forward made four of his seven three-point attempts in the contest.
With 18 points, junior Jarrod West led the Herd in the win going 6-for-12 from the field, including 5-for-7 from behind-the-arc. The guard added a team-high five assists and three steals to his stat line.
Redshirt sophomore Iran Bennett and sophomore Taevion Kinsey each collected 14 points on five makes each from the field. Bennett brought down six rebounds and rejected five shots.
Freshman guard Andrew Taylor finished the game with 10 points, making all four of his free-throw attempts.
The first 17 minutes of the game saw the two sides battle back-and-forth for the lead before West and Taylor buried back-to-back threes for the Herd to put it on top 33-28 with just over two minutes left in the first half. It was MU’s largest lead of the opening half and eventually led 34-31 at the break.
The Monarchs came out gunning to start the second half with a pair of threes to take a three-point lead, 37-34. Then much like the opening period, the team’s traded runs until the Herd put a stranglehold on the game half way into the final half.
Marshall went on an 11-0 run from the 11:09 mark to 4:36 to take a 63-55 lead. As a part of the run, MU held ODU without a point for nearly seven minutes of play.
The Thundering Herd didn’t trail for the final 11:09 and eventually pushed its lead to as many as 10 points down the stretch of the game.
NOTES
Marshall has beaten Old Dominion in its last three matchups.
Williams double-double was the fourth of his career and he’s scored 14 points in back-to-back games.
Bennett’s five-block game tied his career-high and marks the third time he’s done so this season.
West has 198 steals and is now 11 away from breaking Skip Henderson’s men’s program record mark of 208.
Taylor’s 10-point effort snapped a five-game streak of fewer than 10 points.
Kinsey has reached double-figures in eight-straight games and has only failed to reach 10 points in two games this season.
West has reached 10 points in 12 of his last 13 contests.
The Herd has had five players reach double-figure scoring in three games this season, winning all five games.
MU is 10-3 when hold its opponents to 69 or fewer points.
UP NEXT
Marshall hits the road in a return trip to Birmingham to face UAB on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT on ESPN3.