Marshall's Amazing Comeback Win Over Appalachian State

by Elias Meredith

Sportz Nation - 2/20/2026

APPALACHIAN STATE

VS MARSHALL

Photo by Joseph Chapman/App State Men’s Basketball Media

The Marshall Thundering Herd traveled south to face the Sunbelt Conference-leading Appalachian State Mountaineers at Holmes Convocation Center in Boone, North Carolina. The Thundering Herd’s upperclassman-underclassman backcourt of Jalen Speer and Landon Joseph each scored 24 in a 94-93 win over Appalachian State.

In the first half, the game remained close until Appalachian State went on their first run of the game midway through the first half. The Mountaineers would go on a 12-0 run to take a 16-point lead, with 3:25 left in the first half. Marshall would show some fight to close the first half, but Appalachian State still led 52-41 at halftime. The Mountaineers were led by senior guard Alonzo Dodd with 15 points, and the Thundering Herd were led by senior forward Wyatt Fricks, who had all 10 of his points in the first half.

The start of the second half was all offense, no defense. At the 14:19 mark, Marshall cut the deficit to single digits for the first time in nearly 7 minutes. Marshall would then go on a 10-3 run, and in the matter of three minutes, it was a two-point game.

With 3:28 left in regulation, Marshall took their first lead of the second half, on a Sharmarrie Hugie three-pointer to take an 86-84 lead.

Marshall was up 92-89 with under a minute left in regulation. Graduate student guard Kasen Jennings would hit a deep three-pointer to tie the game at 92 with 40 seconds left, but Marshall would respond.

Freshman guard Landon Joseph would cap off his career with a turnaround midrange jumper to put the Thundering Herd up by two with 12 seconds left. Joseph’s game-winning basket sealed a huge second half for him. The Fort Lauderdale native scored 16 of his career-high 24 in the second half in the victory.

Marshall has now won three of their last four games, and is now tied for first in the Sun Belt with the Troy Trojans.

Key to Victory: Joseph’s Career Night

Landon Joseph had himself a night. The freshman played like a veteran in a huge conference win. Joseph scored 24 points on 9 for 13 shooting (69.2%) and 3 for 5 from deep (60%). In the last three contests, Joseph has averaged 17 points and 3 made threes per game, which is the most in a three game stretch for him all season.

Next for the Thundering Herd: Friday, February 21 at Coastal Carolina Chanticleers at 1 PM EST

Next for the Mountaineers: Friday, February 21 vs Georgia Southern Eagles at 1 PM EST

Thank you for reading!

Elias Meredith (@EAM_55)