Box Score HUNTINGTON, W.Va.—Kenderek Washington and Ivory White scored 11 points each, but it was not enough as Alabama State dropped the season-opener 67-49 at Marshall University.

The game saw the home-standing Thundering Herd with two big runs to pull away from the Hornets with the initial run coming in the first half.  With ASU holding an 11-7 lead with 13:35 left in the first stanza, Marshall was able to turn up the defensive heat and held ASU scoreless for 7:45, outscoring ASU 17-0 to go out to a 24-11 lead.

ASU came out in the second half and cut the lead to six at 34-28 after a layup from White.  From there Marshall was able to push the lead back out to 13 at 47-34, outscoring ASU 13-6 over the next five minutes.

ASU made one final push to get back into the game cutting the lead to 49-41 on a free throw from Jeff Middlebrooks with 6:25 left in the game.  The Hornets then forced a turnover, but could not convert the layup and from there Marshall was able to put the game away knocking down six free throws and converting on two shots with the shot clock winding down to help push the lead out to the final 18-point margin.

“I thought tonight we got pushed around quite a bit by Marshall,” head coach Lewis Jackson said.  “They out manned us in just about every facet of the game.  They really beat us up pretty bad on the boards, out rebounding us by 13.  We couldn't keep Dennis (Tinnon) off the glass.  He was a one-man wrecking crew around the basket.”

“We made too many turnovers and missed too many shots and only hit nine of 22 at the free throw line.  There are a lot of things we have to improve on for us to have some success this season.  This was a game we needed to wake us up and tell us how much work we have to do to try and improve for this season.”

Tinnon finished the game with a double-double, grabbing a game-high 14 rebounds while scoring 10 points.  Robert Goff and DeAndre Kane led the Thundering Herd with 13 points each while shooting 44 percent from the field.

Josh Mason came off the bench for the Hornets to lead the team in rebounding with six, to go along with his six points.  Middlebrooks finished the game with seven points and had three assists.

The Hornets will look for their first win of the season Sunday evening at the University of Cincinnati.  The opening tip has been set for 6 p.m.