Mad Bombers
January 11, 2005 10:35 PM | General
January 11, 2005
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Marshall defeated West Virginia at its own game, making 13 of 29 three-point baskets to upset the No. 24-rated Mountaineers 59-55 Tuesday night in the Toyota Capital Classic at the Charleston Civic Center.
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| D'or Fischer slams home two of his game-high 20 points during Tuesday's 59-55 loss to Marshall in Charleston.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo |
Ronny Dawn hit a long distance bomb from the top of the key to break a 52-all tie and the Thundering Herd made four of five free throws down the stretch to knock off the Mountaineers.
A.W. Hamilton, game MVP, and Dawn combined to make 10 three-pointers while West Virginia, which came into the game shooting 36.2 percent from three-point distance, was only able to hit three of 19 for 15.8 percent. Dawn finished the game with 15 points making five of six from three after coming into the game shooting 28 percent from behind the arc.
"We don't have a defense for what Dawn just did," said West Virginia coach John Beilein. "You just don't go and guard a guy that is that far away from the basket when he's running away from the basket."
Marshall took a quick 3-0 lead on a Dawn three-point basket and threes kept the Herd in the game early. Marshall also got a pair of triples from Hamilton and another three from Tre Whitted; Marshall’s first four baskets were from three-point range.
West Virginia did most of its first-half damage inside and didn’t make a single three until early in the second half. Fischer scored back-to-back baskets to start the game and scored six of West Virginia’s final eight points of the first half. A three-point play by Fischer at 3:13 gave the Mountaineers a five-point lead, 23-18, but an Anderson tip-in brought the Herd back to within three, 23-20.
A long Sally jump shot with his foot on the line was countered by a Bunch pull-up basket. Patton added a lay up to cut West Virginia’s lead to one, 25-24. On the other end West Virginia was able to work the ball inside to Fischer where he was fouled by Whitted going to the basket with 2.3 seconds left. Fischer made one of two to give WVU a two-point lead, 26-24.
Marshall coach Ron Jirsa called timeout to set up a play under its own basket. Marshall’s inbound pass sailed out of bounds, giving WVU a good opportunity the Moutaineers weren't able to capitalize on when a lob to Fischer was deflected by Patton.
West Virginia’s biggest lead of the first half was seven at 16-9.
West Virginia used a five-point run to build a seven-point lead, 31-24, and led by eight, 39-31, on a Nichols pull-up jumper with 13:43 remaining.
Following a Marshall timeout, Joe Miles knocked down a pair of free throws to start a Marshall eight-point run. Hamilton and Miles hit back-to-back threes to tie the game at 39 and force Beilein to call a timeout.
Hamilton added another three to give Marshall a 42-39 lead before a Pittsnogle basket inside and a Patrick Beilein three gave WVU a 44-42 lead.
After a Whitted three gave Marshall back the lead, Darris Nichols hit a driving lay up and then added two free throws to make it 48-45, West Virginia.
Dawn answered with two NBA-distance threes to turn a three-point Marshall deficit into a three-point lead, 51-48. Two Fischer free throws followed one of two from Derek Anderson and Sally tied the game at 52 on a driving lay up with 1:01 left.
Dawn once again came up big following Marshall's final timeout with a long-range bomb from straightaway that gave the Herd a 55-52 lead. Enoch Bunch padded Marshall’s lead by five with a pair of free throws.
"The last shot (Dawn) hit was the same play they ran last year and missed," said Beilein. "We had gone over it and gone over it and we did jump out on him but he was pretty deep."
Joe Herber was able to keep Marshall fans on the edge of their seats when he hit a long three to make it a two-point game, but Hamilton iced it with a pair of foul shots with six seconds left.
D’or Fischer led West Virginia with a game-high 20 points to go with nine rebounds. Fischer is coming off an 18-point afternoon against St. John’s Saturday. Curiously, Fischer didn't get many touches after scoring his 18th point at the 14-minute mark. His last two points came on a pair of free throws with 1:35 remaining.
Still, Beilein has been impressed with Fischer's play of late. "That's a string of games now for him that has really been enriching for this team," said Beilein.
Tyrone Sally added 13 points and five rebounds.
WVU’s other big gun Mike Gansey didn’t make his first field goal until 17:20 and finished the game with just two points.
"He was not comfortable out there and they guarded him very, very well," said Beilein of Gansey's off night.
Herber hit just two of 11 field goal attempts and finished with five points.
West Virginia was playing its fourth game in nine days but Marshall was also coming off a tough stretch having just one day of rest after losing at Ohio Sunday afternoon.
"Give them credit," said Beilein. "They deserved to win the game tonight. They made the tough shots."
Marshall did a great job taking care of the basketball committing just nine turnovers after entering the game averaging 18.
Marshall’s last victory in the series came during the 2001-02 season when the Herd beat Gale Catlett’s last team 81-79 in overtime.
The win boosts Marshall’s record to 3-10 while West Virginia falls to 11-2.
The last seven games between these two schools have been decided by six points or less.
The Mountaineers return to action Sunday afternoon at the Coliseum to face an undefeated Boston College team that shows wins this year over Clemson, UCLA, Connecticut and Providence.
