Marshall leads Missouri State past ODU in OT

NORFOLK, Va. -- Marcus Marshall took awhile to get going.

Then he took over.

Missouri State's sophomore guard scored 14 of his 18 points down the second-half stretch and in overtime as the Bears rallied past Old Dominion 79-67 on Friday night at the Constant Center in the season opener for both schools.

The 6-foot-3 Marshall scored just four points in the opening 31 minutes but heated up after a 19-7 Monarchs run turned a 43-39 deficit into a 58-50 Old Dominion lead. He then scored all 10 of his second-half points in the final 8:35 of regulation, including two free throws with 1:01 left that sent the game into overtime tied at 63.

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He added four points in an overtime the Bears dominated by outscoring the Monarchs 16-4.

"Marshall was outstanding," ODU coach Jeff Jones said. "He took control of the game and kind of spearheaded their effort. We kind of lost control."

Guard Aaron Bacote, who finished with a career-high 28 points, nailed a 3-pointer with 3:43 left in regulation to give Old Dominion a four-point lead. But the Monarchs scored just six points the rest of the way and didn't have another field goal until Bacote buried a garbage-time trey with 1.3 seconds left in overtime.

"We got away from what we were doing towards the end," said Bacote, whose previous career high was 20 points. "We just unraveled there at the end."

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Marshall wasn't the only underclassman getting it done for the Bears. Freshman Austin Ruder responded to his first career start with 14 points and 6-11 freshman center Tyler McCullough chipped in nine points and nine rebounds.

"I'm very pleased with our young guys," Missouri State coach Paul Lusk said. "They

did some really good things, so it really was a team effort."

Senior Jarmar Gulley tied Marshall for team- scoring honors with 18 points.

Forward Richard Ross had 14 points and 10 rebounds and guard Dimitri Batten added 12 points for the Monarchs, who trailed by seven on two occasions and were down four six minutes into the second half before seizing their eight-point advantage with 6:57 left.

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The Monarchs had two chances to regain the lead in the final minute after Marshall's tying free throws, but Batten missed a short runner with 22.5 seconds left and then saw his 70-footer at the regulation buzzer fall just short.

As has been the case throughout the preseason, the game was marked by frequent whistles resulting from the new emphasis on curbing physical play. The teams combined for 58 fouls, and Missouri State made 36 trips to the free throw line. Marshall, who was just 4 of 16 from the field, made 9 of 10 from the line.

Still, neither coach had an issue with the officiating.

"That's going to be the story of the year, that there's going to be a lot of fouls called," Lusk said. "That's just the way it's going to be."

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NOTES: The game was a rematch of a nationally televised contest in 2012 at Missouri State that was part of the ESPN Bracketbusters series. The Monarchs prevailed 75-68 thanks in part to 12 3-pointers. ... Missouri State came in with a 7-1 record in Bracketbusters return games, including a 4-0 mark on the road. ... Game marked the ODU coaching debut of Jones, who compiled a 358-286 record in 21 seasons at Virginia and

American.