The SMU men’s basketball team (8-14, 2-7) lost a back-and-forth game on Wednesday night against the Marshall Thundering Herd (13-10, 5-5) that was not decided until the final possession of the game.
In describing the action, Marshall head coach Donnie Jones said, “Unfortunately there had to be only one winner,” because both of the teams played such a tough game.
In a game that was tied at 72 with just over one minute left, the Mustangs looked like they might put together their second conference win in a row. SMU senior Derrick Roberts came out of the timeout after a foul, and sunk a layup in traffic to give the Mustangs a two-point lead with only 13 seconds left in the game.
SMU head coach Matt Doherty immediately called a timeout to set his defense. After another timeout, the Thundering Herd came out of the huddle and ran a double screen for senior Mark Dorris that freed him momentarily from the Mustangs’ defense.
Dorris got an open look at the basket, albeit four feet behind the three-point line, and sunk a three pointer with 0.7 seconds left in the game. The basket eventually lifted the Thundering Herd over the Mustangs for a 75-74 win.
In regard to the final set play out of the timeout, coach Dorris said, “It was very similar to what we set up…we wanted to have a double screen for Mark [Dorris] coming off of the backside.”
The shot Dorris hit was a fade-away three pointer that was nearly impossible to defend, according to both coaches.
In spite of the tough loss, coach Doherty reflected, “It was a great game. We invested emotionally. When you get knocked down you have to get back up.”
The ability to get up after their second last-second loss of conference play can be tough for a young team. Back on Jan. 19th, SMU lost to Tulsa on a last second lay up.
Roberts, however, did not even have to think about the resolve of the team. “I don’t think it is going to be that hard [to get back up]. We are going to keep fightin’. That’s all we can do is keep fightin,'” Roberts said with confidence.
In the first half of play, the Mustangs led by as many as 10 points with 6:20 left in the half. However, Marshall was able to battle back and even the score up at 38 by the end of the half.
The Mustangs were led by Jon Killen, Bamba Fall and Roberts on the score sheet. Killen and Fall scored 16 points, while Roberts led the Mustangs with 18 points on 8-9 shooting.
Thundering Herd center Tirrell Baines led Marshall in the victory with 24 points and 11 rebounds. He was able to capitalize on his weight advantage to have his way in the paint.
The Mustangs play again on Saturday night when they travel to Houston for another conference showdown.
