HUNTINGTON, WV – Kyle Hines recorded his 22nd career double-double, set a career high for points and surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his career, but a UNC Greensboro late lead didn't hold up as Marshall topped the Spartans, 82-80, in men's basketball action Saturday afternoon.

Hines, a junior from Sicklerville, NJ, finished the day with 38 points, the most by a Spartan since 1986. He also grabbed 12 rebounds and had three blocks and three steals.

After UNCG led by nine, 67-58, with 1:32 to play, Marshall rallied. Travis Aikens drove the lane and converted a three-point play with 19 seconds to play to give Marshall a 68-67 lead.

UNCG senior Ricky Hickman was fouled with 7.2 seconds to play, but he made just one of two to tie the game. Marshall called time out with 5.5 seconds left and the ball in front of their bench. However, the Herd settled for a long-range three-pointer that was short and the game went to overtime.

Marshall's Travis Aikens took over in the extra session. He scored 10 of Marshall's first 12 points of the extra session. The Herd scored the first five points of the overtime to take a quick lead. UNCG's Mikko Koivisto converted two free throws to cut it back to three, 73-70 with 3:54 left.

The lead was still three when Hickman picked off a pass, drove to the basket and was fouled with 2:14 left in overtime. He converted one of two, but Marshall bobbled the ball out of bounds on the rebound. Hickman missed a pair of three-pointers, but UNCG came away with the ball after both misfires.

The third time, they got it to big man. Hines took it to hole to tie the game, 78-78, for his 36th point of the game, tying UNCG's Division I era mark.

Aikens was fouled on the other end. He made both free throws to give Marshall a two-point lead. But then Hines was fouled making a move to the basket with 25 seconds left. Notoriously a bad free throw shooter, Hines reworked his free throw stroke in the off-season. It worked as he sunk both free throws to tie the game, 80-80.

Humphrey, however, was fouled as he was shooting on the other end with 5.5 seconds left. He hit both and a desperation three-pointer by Hickman was off target.

“It was a tough game for either team to have to lose,” said UNCG coach Mike Dement. “It was good for both of us from the standpoint that we got put into situations that you can't simulate in practice, going to overtime and such. I think we will both learn from this game.”

Hines got off to a fast start. Needing just 14 points entering the day to reach the 1,000-point milestone, he scored 11 points in the first five minutes as UNCG jumped out to a 16-12 lead. That extended his streak of double figure scoring games to 22 straight and give him 53 games with 10 or more points in his career.

He surpassed the 1,000-point mark at 9:34 with a putback, to make him the 14th player in school history to surpass the milestone. He wound up scoring 22 of UNCG's 43 first-half points to give UNCG a seven-point lead at the intermission, 43-36.

UNCG missed nine of its first 11 from the floor to open the second half as Marshall whittled the lead down to two early in the second half. But the Spartans strung together seven straight points to take the margin back to a nine-point lead, 57-48, with 11 minutes to play.

Marshall's Chris Ross drove the lane and converted a conventional three-point play, however with 4:54 to play to cap a 10-3 spurt and pull the Herd back to within a bucket at 60-58.

But Hines hit two free throws and then hit one of his trademark leaners in the lane to give the Spartans a six-point cushion with three minutes to play. The Spartans tried to go to work on the clock from there.

Marshall's Darryl Merthie knocked down a three-pointer from the right wing with 1:16 to play to cut it 67-61. The Spartans failed to convert their next possession and the Herd's Ross was fouled on a rebound with 53.3 seconds. He converted the front end of a one-and-one and then grabbed the rebound, but Merthie dribbled the ball off of his foot to give the ball back to UNCG.

But Hickman had a couple of mental lapses and Marshall got another life. First, he pushed off on the in-bounds to give it back to Marshall. Then, he fouled Markel Humphrey on a three-point shot. Humphrey converted all three free throws to make it 67-65. Against full court pressure, Hickman tried to hit Ben Stywall with a length of the court pass, but threw it to0 far and it went out-of-bounds to give Marshall the ball with 39.1 seconds left in regulation.

SIDELINES: It was the first-ever meeting between the two schools. Ironically, UNCG replaced Marshall in the Southern Conference back in 1997 when the Thundering Herd left for the Mid-American Conference in order to elevate their football program to I-A status... This is the 40th season of men's basketball at UNCG. The Spartans are 14-26 all-time on opening day... With Mikko Koivisto and Ben Stywall in the starting line-up Saturday, it marked the second straight year that two freshmen earned a starting nod for the season opener. Prior to last year, it hadn't happened since 1992-93... Hines' performance was the 38th time in school history that a Spartan topped the 30-point mark... Marshall is 15-1 in openers at the Henderson Center... UNCG was 0-3 in overtime last year. It is the first time a UNCG season-opener has gone overtime since 1992. UNCG lost that game to William & Mary.

AGATE

MARSHALL 82, UNC GREENSBORO 80 

UNC GREENSBORO (0-1)
Hines,Kyle 14-21 9-9 38; Koivisto,Mikko 2-8 6-7 12; Hickman,Ricky 2-14 7-10 11; Stywall,Ben 0-3 8-10 8; Oleksiak,Kevin 2-7 1-2 5; Johnson,Dwyane 1-1 2-3 4; Akinosho,Matt 1-2 0-0 2; Brown,Pete 0-0 0-0 0; Vlazny,Greg 0-0 0-0 0; Toney,Kendall 0-7 0-0 0; Tooms,Bart 0-1 0-0 0; Simmons,Everson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-64 33-41 80.

Marshall (1-0)
Humphrey, Markel 5-12 10-15 22; Aikens, Travis 5-14 11-16 21; Dorris, Mark 5-15 2-5 14; Ross, Chris 2-6 4-6 8; Merthie, Darryl 3-5 0-0 7; Bro Grebe, Jean F. 2-5 0-0 4; Wilkerson, Tyler 1-1 0-0 2; Jackson, Robbie 1-1 0-2 2; Williams, Chris 1-4 0-0 2; Oglesby, Jesse 0-0 0-0 0; Marshall, Taurean 0-1 0-0 0; Whitted, Tre 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 25-67 27-44 82.

Halftime: UNCG, 43-36. End of regulation: Tied, 68-68. 3-point goals--UNC Greensboro 3-20 (Koivisto,Mikko 2-4; Hines,Kyle 1-1; Oleksiak,Kevin 0-4; Toney,Kendall 0-5; Hickman,Ricky 0-6), Marshall 5-25 (Dorris, Mark 2-8; Humphrey, Markel 2-5; Merthie, Darryl 1-2; Williams, Chris 0-1; Whitted, Tre 0-3; Ross, Chris 0-1; Aikens, Travis 0-5). Fouled out--UNC Greensboro-Johnson,Dwyane; Akinosho,Matt; Stywall,Ben, Marshall-Whitted, Tre; Ross, Chris. Rebounds--UNC Greensboro 45 (Hines,Kyle 12), Marshall 50 (Aikens, Travis 10). Assists--UNC Greensboro 10 (Toney,Kendall 2; Koivisto,Mikko 2; Johnson,Dwyane 2; Stywall,Ben 2), Marshall 13 (Dorris, Mark 3). Total fouls--UNC Greensboro 33, Marshall 30. Technical fouls--UNC Greensboro-None, Marshall-None. A-3073

- UNCG -