Marshall Downs UCF 65-64

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 Sunday, January 15, 2012 - 00:22 By Mike Holbrook
MU Baketball (file photo)
MU Baketball (file photo)

HUNTINGTON, WV (HNN) – The Marshall Thundering Herd took sole possession of first place in Conference USA with a 65-64 victory over the UCF Knights before a season-high 8,379 fans at the Cam Henderson Center.

With the win, Marshall improves to 13-4 (4-0 C-USA) while UCF falls to 13-4 (3-1 C-USA).

The Herd outshot the Knights 41%-37% in the first half and took a 37-32 halftime lead. They maintained a lead until 1:34 to go in the second half when a Josh Crittle layup put the Knights up 62-61.

Marshall answered with a Dennis Tinnon tip-in to lead 63-62 with 1:13 to go.

UCF responded with a Keith Clayton tip-in and took back the lead 64-63 with 49 seconds to go.

On the following Herd possession, DeAndre Kane sunk two free throws with 14 seconds left to put the Herd up for good.

On the Knights last possession, Marcus Jordan missed a layup with 3 seconds left. Josh Crittle rebounded the miss but was stripped by Damier Pitts to preserve the win.

Marshall was led in scoring by Kane who scored 16 point, the only Herd player in double figures.

The Marshall defense held UCF leading scorer Jordan to 9 points on 3-of-17 shooting.