Georgia Southern Soars Over Marshall; Advance to Conference Final

Caleb Williams March 9, 2026 3 minutes read

The Cinderella story continues for Georgia Southern, taking down the No. 2-seeded Marshall Thundering Herd 82-78 on Sunday night and advancing to their first-ever Sun Belt Men’s Basketball Tournament Final appearance. The stakes were high in this conference semi-final matchup in Pensacola, Florida.

Marshall, entered the tournament highly ranked within the conference for a second straight season under their second-year Head Coach Cornelius Jackson and looking to snap a two-game losing streak to the Eagles. Georgia Southern, coming into Sunday night’s contest, was seeking their fifth win in as many days and continuing an improbable run toward a conference auto-bid.

THE CINDERELLA RUN ROLLS ON!

Georgia Southern defeats Marshall 82-78 behind Spudd Webb’s 31 points!

The 10th-seeded Eagles will have a chance to clinch a Conference Tournament title tomorrow and punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament!

They face Troy Monday at 6pm… pic.twitter.com/kp5hctmmZQ

— Zach Fox (@ZachFoxSports1) March 9, 2026

The opening minutes were close-knit between the two teams, neither side able to build any momentum and take control of the game. Things started to heat up when Georgia Southern shots began to fall like they had the previous two nights. A 12-2 run by the Eagles pushed their lead to 13 points to make the score 25-12 midway through the first half. Marshall went 0-for-4 with two turnovers during the Eagles run, scoring their only two points from the free-throw line. The Thundering Herd cut the lead down to seven heading into halftime with a score of 42-35. Redshirt senior forward Wyatt Fricks lead the way with a nine point first half.

In the second half, the Georgia Southern lead began to dwindle slowly as Marshall’s defense began to put the squeeze on by turning a seven-point deficit into a four-point lead in favor of the Thundering Herd. Marshall’s defense did what no other team had been able to thus far in the tournament, staunching Georgia Southern’s three-point shooting and holding the Eagles to 2-of-5 from beyond the arc in the second-half. Junior guard Shamarrie Hugie scored a season-high 19-points off the bench for Marshall, keeping them in striking distance of Georgia Southern, while leading the team in scoring.

Despite holding off Georgia Southern on the perimeter, poor rebounding by the Thundering Herd and mishandled possessions came back to doom Marshall in the end. The Eagles outrebounded Marshall by eight and scored 14 second-chance points. Senior forward Andres Burney leading the way with 11 rebounds for Georgia Southern.

𝗦𝗣𝗨𝗗𝗗 𝗦𝗣𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗧.

Spudd Webb gets behind the Herd defense and catches a heads-up pass to get the basket + the foul for a three-point play to tie the game for @GSAthletics_MBB. ☀️🏀 pic.twitter.com/52vhLTcQog

— Sun Belt (@SunBelt) March 9, 2026

After a 40-point night from Tyren Moore against Coastal Carolina on Saturday night, Spudd Webb took his turn at being the top scorer for Georgia Southern, totaling his second-highest scoring performance of the year with 31-points. The graduate guard was also the most efficient free-throw shooter for the Eagles on Sunday night, converting thirteen of his fourteen attempts from the line.

Georgia Southern will face the ultimate test on Monday night against the defending Sun Belt Champions and aim to snap a four-game losing streak against the Troy Trojans and punch their ticket into the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1992.

They’ll also be going after history, as no team in NCAA history has ever won six games in six days.