Marshall 88, Southern Miss. 84

Mar 5, 2013, 10:14 pm

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- Elijah Pittman scored 22 points, D.D. Scarver added 19 and Marshall hit 9 of 10 free throws in the final 30 seconds to knock off Southern Mississippi 88-84 Tuesday night, snapping a two-game skid and splitting the season series.

The Thundering Herd (13-17, 6-9 Conference USA) avenged a 102-46 drubbing Jan. 23 despite a career-high 35-point effort by the Golden Eagles' Dwayne Davis.

Marshall, which ranks ninth in the league standings, shot 64 percent in the first half (16 of 25) and led by nine points early in the second.

However, the second-place Golden Eagles (22-8, 11-4), who came in having won four of five games, rallied to pull ahead 74-73 on Neil Watson's 3-pointer.

Tied for the eighth time, at 79-79 with 1:03 left, Nigel Spikes made two free throws, Scarver hit four straight and Pittman was 3 of 4, his final foul shot missing with 1 second left.