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SPORTS
Marshall has block party for visitors
HUNTINGTON -- Marshall men's basketball will celebrate Thanksgiving together as a team at head coach Donnie Jones' house on Thursday.
But, before the Thundering Herd could feast itself on the turkeys and desserts at the Jones', they were busy hosting a pre-Thanksgiving block party during Wednesday's 87-74 win over Lamar.
"This was our little Thanksgiving right here," Marshall forward Tyler Wilkerson said. "We are thankful for this win."
The Herd finished with 13 blocks as a team with Wilkerson leading the way with seven.
Wilkerson notched five of his seven blocks in the opening half with three coming on one possession.
That possession came in the first minutes of the game, and altered the mindset of Lamar's shooters for the rest of the half. The end result was a 28 percent shooting performance by the Cardinals in the first 20 minutes.
"They were much bigger in person than what they were on tape," Lamar coach Steve Roccaforte said.
While the blocks certainly altered the mindset of Lamar shooters, it also swayed the mindset of the Herd defense.
On several occasions, Marshall defenders left the floor in hopes of joining the block party, but instead of coming away with blocks, the Herd came away with fouls or no one on the backside to protect the glass off of a missed shot.
Wilkerson scored 18 points and had seven blocks, but did so in just 16 minutes of action after picking up two fouls in each half.
"Tyler's got to make better decisions. We have to have him on the floor in big games," Jones said. "He was in foul trouble and it was because he was trying to block shots."
Furthermore, Lamar used 24 offensive rebounds to score 30 second-chance points -- 19 of which came in the final 20 minutes of action.
"Sometimes that kills our defense because we are trying to block everything," Jones said. "That's why we are giving up a lot of offensive rebounds. The ones we don't get, we are out of position because everyone is helping the helper. That's something we have to learn."
Don't take Jones wrong, he has plenty to be thankful for.
Such as the lesson he can give his team during its 9 a.m. Turkey Day practice.
Blocks -- like a good Thanksgiving meal -- are much better when consumed in moderation.
