Marshall Opens Weekend Set Against Charlotte with 75-67 Win in Huntington

The Marshall University men’s basketball team opened the final weekend of the regular season with a 75-67 against visiting Charlotte on Friday at the Cam Henderson Center in Huntington.

Junior guard Taevion Kinsey led the Thundering Herd (14-6, 8-5 C-USA) with 19 points in the win to go along nine rebounds while sophomore guard Andrew Taylor continued his strong run of recent play with 17 points, eight rebounds and three assists in the win.

Senior forward Jannson Williams, who was honored for setting the Marshall all-time blocks record prior to the game, finished with 15 points, eight rebounds and five blocks against the 49ers.

Charlotte (9-14, 5-10 C-USA) opened the game on a 9-2 run, but MU stormed back and led by as many as 21 points early in the second half. The 49ers made a run of their own to close the gap to single-digits but the Herd was able to hold off their pesky visitors and send them to their seventh-consecutive loss.

“I think tomorrow we need to come back in, stay focused, it’s a quick turn around,” Kinsey said. “It wasn’t the way we wanted to finish, they have some players that could make some big shots
and we don’t want that.”

Jordan Sherpherd led Charlotte with 15 points in Friday’s loss while teammate Anzac Rissetto finished with 14 points.

The Thundering Herd and 49ers will close the regular season at 2 p.m. on Saturday as the Thundering Herd celebrates Senior Day for Williams, point guard Jarrod West and Darius George and Mikel Beyers.

“[Saturday] is Senior Day,” Marshall coach Dan D’Antoni said “Three seniors were here — Jannson, Darius and Jarrod — [as freshmen] during the season where we made the [NCAA] tournament so it’s a big night for them. I wish we were able to fill it up — they deserve that.”

Saturday’s game will be broadcast by Stadium.