CHARLOTTE, N.C. Ƶ Victory was literally hanging on the rim on Monday night for Marshall.
The Thundering Herd was just unable to put it home on the road.
QueensƵ Kenny Dye hit an 8-footer with 10 seconds left and Marshall had two shots fall off the rim in the final two seconds as the Royals earned an 83-82 win over the Herd in front of a packed house at Curry Arena.
ƵThey were certainly up for us,Ƶ Marshall head coach Dan DƵAntoni said. ƵThe place was packed and it was rocking. They had the students going and youƵve got to give them kudos for all that. These guys have been in the top 10 in Division II for 10 years and they returned eight players.Ƶ
Dye finished with 24 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds to lead the Royals in the teamƵs first game at Division I.
His final connection brought Queens back from an eight-point deficit with 3:02 left. MarshallƵs Andrew Taylor got to the rim, but his contested layup fell off the rim. Taevion Kinsey tried to put home the rebound, but his shot hung on the front of the rim before falling off.
Marshall led by as many as 11 and took an 81-73 lead on a Kam Curfman 3-pointer in transition, but did not get another field goal in the contest as the Royals turned up the heat in front of a loud capacity crowd.
ƵWe had a 10-point lead and missed some easy shots Ƶ not easy shots, but shots youƵve got to make to win against a good ball club,Ƶ DƵAntoni said.
Kinsey finished with 23 points, 10 rebounds and six steals to lead Marshall (0-1) while Taylor overcame a 2-for-11 first half to end with 20 points. Curfman added 15 points on five 3-pointers and freshman Jacob Conner added 11 points in the loss.
After trailing at the break, Marshall used a 19-5 run in which Taylor, Kinsey and Curfman all got going from the floor to build its biggest lead.
However, the Royals got a quick 7-0 run before Taylor knocked down a 3-pointer to temporarily steady things before Queens clawed back for the final stretch.
MarshallƵs end to the game strongly resembled the end to the first half as well when Queens scored the final nine points of the half to take a 41-36 lead into the locker room.
The catalyst for the Royals was forward Gavin Rains, who grabbed four offensive rebounds late in the half, which gave Queens extra looks. Rains finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds for Queens (1-0).
After struggling in preseason, Curfman got going early, knocking down three 3-pointers to pace the Herd. His third of the half gave Marshall its biggest lead at 34-29, but an offensive rebound by Rains led to a second-chance 3-pointer from Dye that flipped momentum and preceded the late first-half run.
A.J. McKee added 14 points for Queens in the win while JayƵDen Turner added 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Queens outrebounded Marshall 47-36.
