Late start fails to slow Marshall

Marshall showed it does not like to be kept waiting.

Orr arrived late for its 4:00 p.m. tipoff with the host No. 17 Commandos in the opening round of the Public League playoffs on Wednesday.

When the ball finally was tossed up, it was all Marshall as the Commandos pounded Orr 84-70.

After warming up for nearly 30 minutes waiting for Orr, Marshall (17-6) was sluggish in the first half and struggled to a 44-42 advantage.

"They did well with their box-and-one in the first half," said Marshall's Darius Smith who finished with 28 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

"But we made some adjustments in the second half and that made our big men more effective."

Refreshed after the break, the Commandos came out smoking, scoring 15 unanswered points. Orr (16-10) never got closer than 12 after that.

"We treated it like a conference game early," Marshall coach Henry Cotton said. "We talked about our assignments at halftime. When folks know what to do, it makes the job a lot easier."

Vince Garrett had 22 points and 10 rebounds for Marshall while Sam Thornton scored 10.

Kenneth Foster led Orr with 18 points, but was scoreless in the second half. Denzel Whitaker had 15 and Artis Horton came off the bench to score 11.