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MARSHALL SPORTS
Marshall remains on a roll
Marshall basketball
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GREENVILLE, N.C. -- Marshall University is 2-0 in Conference USA men's basketball for the first time in five seasons as a member.
Marshall, also 13-2 overall, used some good 3-point shooting to separate from East Carolina in an 83-65 victory Saturday night in Minges Coliseum before a crowd of 4,405 spectators. Marshall made 11 of its 23 three-point attempts.
The Thundering Herd bombed East Carolina's zone defense.
"It was our night shooting from the outside," Marshall coach Donnie Jones said.
Damier Pitts with 17 points topped four Marshall double-figure scorers. Chris Lutz followed with 13 while Hassan Whiteside and Tyler Wilkerson both scored 10.
Wilkerson grabbed eight rebounds and Whiteside blocked five shots.
Brock Young led the Pirates (6-10, 0-2) with 26 points.
The Herd man-to-man defense limited the Pirates to 39.7 percent shooting and a 2-for-13 showing from the 3-point line.
Marshall handled some adversity by winning without the services of Tirrell Baines and Antonio Haymon. Baines had knee surgery Wednesday and will miss a few weeks of action. Haymon was sidelined by an abdominal infection.
Several players contributed from off the Marshall bench, which outscored the East Carolina reserves by a 26 to 8 margin.
Cam Miller had nine points on a trio of 3-point shots and Shaq Johnson, who was used as a reserve for the first time this season, also scored nine. NIgel Spikes added four points and had four rebounds.
"Our bench all night long was so productive," Jones said.
Marshall had a 40-32 halftime lead and East Carolina quickly pulled within five on a Chad Wynn basket and Jamar Abrams foul shot in the first two minutes of the second half.
Lutz made a 3-pointer, followed by two free throws and another 3-pointer.to restore the double-digit edge with 15:41 left in the game.
East Carolina got as close as eight on Wynn's layup with 14:04 to go before Marshall stretched its lead to 13 points several times.
Wilkerson's tip-in of Whiteside's missed shot made it a 72-59 game with 5:10 to play. Johnson drew a foul on a layup and converted a free throw that finally stretched the lead to more than 13 at 75-59 with 3:11 remaining.
Lutz made his third 3-pointer of the night with eight seconds left that finished the scoring. Pitts also had three 3-pointer for Marshall, which was only 4-for-24 from long distance Tuesday at home against Southern Miss.
"My teammates put me in a position where I could knock down some shots." Pitts said.
Marshall returns home Sunday before heading back out for a Wednesday game at UCF (9-6, 1-0) that won at home Saturday against Rice, 77-58.
