— By David Walsh
Marshall and Georgia Southern engaged in a shootout in their Sun Belt Conference game Saturday night.
It was the Eagles, though, who had the hotter hand throughout the first half as well as most of the second to come away with a 101-87 win inside Jack and Ruth Ann Hilll Convocation Center.
The Eagles (15-12, 7-7 Sun Belt) ended a three-game skid in the process.
Georgia Southern sprinted to a 59-42 lead at the half on red-hot shooting from behind the arc. The Eagles nailed 10 threes on 16 tries.
Alden Applewhite’s conventional three-point play 20 seconds before the half gave the home team the 17-point lead. Marshall played most of the half without leading scorer Wyatt Fricks as a result of two early fouls.
Tavarus “Spudd” Webb drained another three with 16:04 left to give the Eagles their biggest lead at 24 (71-47). From that point on, the Thundering Herd had to play catchup — and there would be no such thing this night.
Tyren Moore led Georgia Southern with 32 points on Senior Night and final home game of the season. He made 11-of-19 shots including 8-of-13 from three. Webb finished with 18 and Applewhite 14. Jeff Koulibaly came off the bench and netted 16. The Eagles went over the 100-point mark late despite going the final 5:22 without a field goal. As a team, the Eagles made 15-of-32 threes.
Marshall took 28 threes and made 11.
Jalen Speer paced the Herd (16-10, 8-5 SBC) with 20 points. Fricks had 17 as did Landen Joseph, who came off the bench. Noah Otshudi settled for 13 before he fouled out. Matt Van Komen, the 7-foot-4 transfer from Elon, missed his fourth straight game for the Herd. He’s nursing an injured foot.
Marshall got the deficit down to nine points on two Otshudi free throws with 1:32 to play. The Eagles protected the lead by hitting their free throws from that point.
Nakavieo White’s basket and foul shot at the 5:22 mark was the last field goal for the Eagles. They did rest of the scoring at the foul line.
It’s a quick turnaround for the Herd as it takes on South Alabama in a makeup game Monday at the Cam Henderson Center. Tip is 7 p.m.
A busy week for Marshall also includes a trip to Appalachian State on Thursday and a matchup at Coastal Carolina on Saturday.
Through Saturday, South Alabama is atop the Sun Belt by percentage points with a 9-4 record. Appalachian State follows at 10-5, while Troy (9-5), Marshall and Texas State (9-6) are not far behind.