The Marshall Statesmen are known for their defense and graduated three all-district performers from last year, along with most of their offensive firepower. Even with those guys, the Marshall averaged just over 52 points per game last season.
Considering this, we expected Marshall’s season opener at home Tuesday night versus the Robinson Rams to end up a somewhat low-scoring affair. But the Statesmen proved us wrong, shooting over 50% from the field and scoring 59 points in the final three quarters to secure a 70-55 victory.
“I’m just so proud,” said Marshall Coach Jerry Lin. “I don’t know if we have a superstar, but what we have is a bunch of unselfish guys who are willing to do their jobs.”
Coach Lin may have a budding star in 6’4″ sophomore Trey Lonardo. Early on, the Statesmen looked to batter Robinson down low with 6’6″ senior forward Anderson Krisko. Krisko did just that, but picked up his second foul early in the second quarter with the score knotted at 11. Lonardo stepped up and became the focal point of Marshall’s attack, delivering 11 first half points and four assists.
“He’s a helluva player,” said Lin of Lonardo. “Freshman on varsity last year…got a lot of minutes last year and some experience in big games. “I wasn’t surprised by his performance, he’s been playing like this all offseason for us.”
Still, Marshall needed every bit of that performance to take a 30-28 lead into the locker room. After halftime, the Statesmen began the third quarter with a 14-4 run. The run started with a self-inflicted Robinson wound as the Rams were assessed a technical for dunking at halftime. The run ended when Krisko delivered a bone-crushing screen on a Robinson defender that allowed Osteen Suguru to find fellow senior Eric Williams for a three-pointer.
“When we stretched our lead in the third quarter he was a big factor,” said Lin of Krisko. “The last three years of our success he’s been a part of it…I believe he’s one of the better big guys in our conference and in our area.”
The Rams (0-1) settled down and were able to narrow the lead to 45-39, but got no closer than that. Robinson was buoyed by its three-point shooting, as the Rams shot half their shots from beyond the arc and made nine. However, Robinson shot only 32% from inside the three-point line.
Meanwhile, Lonardo and Krisko were each 6-7 from the field with most of their damage coming right at the basket. Lonardo finished with 19 points, while Krisko added 13 despite his foul trouble. Junior guard Shreyas Vaidya provided a nice lift off the bench for Lin’s team with 13 points. while starting guards Suguru and sophomore Jackson Fraser tallied 10 assists between them.
Senior guard Zachary Nemets had 12 points, all on threes, and junior Braxton Sebastian added 11 for the Rams, who get right back at it tonight versus Osbourn in the Joe Cascio Tournament at Falls Church. Marshall will next be in action this Friday at their own tournament, versus Centreville.
–Chris Jollay
all statistics are unofficial
| MARSHALL | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| FRASER | 3-3 | 0-0 | 6 | 5 | 6 | |
| SUGURU | 1-8 | 7-8 | 9 | 5 | 4 | |
| SARAVANAN | 0-0 | 1-2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| LONARDO | 6-7 | 7-8 | 19 | 4 | 4 | |
| KRISKO | 6-7 | 1-2 | 13 | 6 | 1 | |
| Vaidya | 5-12 | 0-0 | 13 | 1 | 1 | |
| Ochsendorf | 0-2 | 1-2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | |
| Jawaid | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Pan | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Oubei | 1-2 | 0-0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| Williams | 1-2 | 2-2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | |
| Rohde | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 23-45 | 19-24 | 70 | 29 | 17 | |
| Threes: Vaidya 3-9, Oubei 1-1, Williams 1-2, Pan 0-1, Rohde 0-1, Suguru 0-2 | ||||||
| ROBINSON | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| NEMETS | 4-14 | 0-0 | 12 | 3 | 0 | |
| BARNHART | 2-13 | 2-3 | 8 | 1 | 2 | |
| SEBASTIAN | 3-7 | 4-6 | 11 | 6 | 4 | |
| RAHIM | 2-5 | 0-0 | 4 | 3 | 1 | |
| HILL | 0-2 | 5-6 | 5 | 6 | 0 | |
| Schuck | 4-5 | 0-2 | 9 | 5 | 1 | |
| Hansen | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Smith | 1-2 | 1-2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| Ferguson | 1-1 | 0-0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| Cloutier | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 17-50 | 12-19 | 55 | 25 | 8 | |
| Threes: Nemets 4-12, Barnhart 2-5, Ferguson 1-1, Schuck 1-2, Sebastian 1-3, Rahim 0-1, Hill 0-1 | ||||||