Hallsville Snaps Marshall’s 24-Game Winning Streak On Last Shot

HALLSVILLE -- It was going to take something spectacular to derail Marshall's increasingly realistic goal of a perfect regular season.

The spectacular happened Tuesday at Hallsville's Bobcat Coliseum.

Johnathan Mitchell fished an air ball back into play right above the baseline to tee up Lance Hardman's buzzer beater and a 64-62 win for Hallsville.

Marshall's 24-game winning streak -- dating back to the start of the season  -- is over.

"What a big deal for our program to beat a team like Marshall that's always had their way since I've lived here in East Texas the last three years," Bobcats head coach Rusty Walker said. "I mean, I know that much history. It was exciting for our kids to pull through on our home court. Marshall is a tremendous team."

How tremendous? The Mavericks' loss demoted the program to 55-3 through the past 14 months.

Marshall (24-1, 7-1), ranked 17th in Monday's Class 5A Texas Association of Basketball Coaches poll, still controls its own destiny in the District 15-5A race. However, Hallsville (17-7, 6-2) gained a game in the standings while remaining in a two-way second place tie with Texas High.

The Bobcats will need to continue winning and for the Mavericks to lose another game to climb into a first place tie.

Tiandre Jackson-Young almost made that prospect much less feasible. With a jump shot and then a steal on the inbound pass, the center scored four points in half-a-second to help Marshall fully erase what had been a 14-point deficit at its worst.

The two baskets made it a 62-62 game with 26 seconds to play. Hallsville had led, 54-40, at the 5:17 mark of the fourth quarter.

Walker's squad could not beat the full court press after giving up the tying score, so the coach had to use his final timeout to save the team from a 10-second violation.

Marshall then deflected a pass out of play with 14.9 seconds to play.

Ryan Cole got a good look for the game-winner, but his shot missed the rim and bounced just before hitting the baseline. Mitchell was there to dig the ball out. The frantic swat landed at Hardman's feet in the lane.

"He just dove into the wall to save it," Hardman said. "I was just the guy to come up with it. I knew it was going in, so I took off running."

Swish. Horn.

Hallsville set the game's tone on a 7-0 run through the middle of the first quarter for a 7-1 lead. The Mavericks chased for the rest of the half before taking a short-lived 25-23 lead inside the final minute and then surrendering a tying shot from Hardman.

Marshall shot 34.7 percent from the floor in the first half. Hallsville was eight percent better at the time and ultimately worked its way up to 47 percent, a 25-for-53 night to circumvent a bad performance at the free throw line.

Foul trouble, which arose in the first quarter for both teams, came home to roost late. The sides combined for 51 infractions in a 32-minute game.

Three Marshall players responsible for 20 points were finished by the 3:00 mark of the final period. Starting center Colton Lasseter fouled out for Hallsville.

The Mavericks also were assessed a technical foul against the bench and a flagrant foul during the second half. Hallsville shot 1-for-4 on those penalties, but the lone score and the extra possessions mattered in a game that was decided on the last shot.

Marshall went 17-for-33 from the line. The Bobcats hit 11 of 32 shots from the same location.

"We had a goal to shock the state tonight," Walker said. "Somehow, we pulled through. We missed a lot of free throws. I mean, a lot of free throws. A part of it was, I thought, our kids wanted it too bad. I thought we tightened up at the end and throughout the game."

All's well that ends well.

Jackson-Young's 28 points led all scorers. Carrington Love also reached double digits for the Mavericks with 11 points.

Hallsville benefitted from four players in double digits. Starting guard Blaine Parker led the way with 14 points while Nolan Johnson and Mitchell each scored 11 as parts of the starting lineup. Hardman added 12 points off the bench.

Marshall will visit Pine Tree on Friday.

The Bobcats simultaneously travel to Texas High. It will be the team's best chance to latch onto sole possession of second place within the district.

"Here in a minute, this is going to be the last game," Walker said. "We're going to focus on the next game. That's what we try to do. We try to stand on an even keel."

Hallsville 64, No. 17 Marshall 62

District 15-5A
At Bobcat Coliseum, Hallsville

Marshall                7    18      9     28     --    62
Hallsville              11    14    21    18      --    64
MARSHALL (24-1, 7-1) -- Tiandre Jackson-Young 28, Carrington Love 11, Greg Worth 8, Corteze Hurd 6, Trel Patton 6, Kris Dunn 3.
HALLSVILLE (17-7, 6-2) -- Blaine Parker 14, Lance Hardman 12, Nolan Johnson 11, Johnathan Mitchell 11, Ryan Cole 6, Chris Timberlake 6, Brendarian Dawson 2, Matt Mowrey 2.
THREE-POINT GOALS -- Marshall: Love (3), Hurd, Jackson-Young. Hallsville: Parker (2), Johnson.