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GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands – The Golden Grizzlies men’s basketball team concludes its three-game stint in the Cayman Islands Classic with one final tune-up against Marshall Tuesday (Nov. 21) at 1:30 p.m. ET.
The Cayman Islands Classic, which takes place inside the John Gray Gymnasium in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, is a bracket-style tournament consisting of eight teams. Those teams include: Oakland, Drake, Loyola Marymount, Stephen F. Austin, Marshall, Utah State, Florida International and Akron. The tournament will take place Nov. 19-21 and all games will be streamed live on FloHoops along with all Oakland games live streamed through audio via The Bet1270 AM (WXYT-AM) & the Audacy App with Neal Ruhl on the call.
The Golden Grizzlies (2-3, 0-0 HL) used a 15-2 run at the end of the first half against LMU to help propel itself to a 74-69 win.
The Golden Grizzlies lept to a 9-2 lead but the Lions came roaring back to give it a four-point lead. The Golden Grizzlies didn’t count itself out though as Townsend netted a pair of free throws and back-to-back threes from Gohlke and Townsend reversed the score and put Oakland up by four.
The Golden Grizzlies kept its foot on the pedal to take a 41-35 lead, and DQ Cole disrupted the passing lane for a steal with :19 seconds to go. With the shot clock turned off, the Golden Grizzlies drew up a play which put the ball in the hands of Isaiah Jones who sank the three at the buzzer for the halftime lead, 44-35.
The Lions slowly came crawling back in the second half and put the pressure on the Golden Grizzlies and cut its lead to 70-60 with 2:01 to go. The Lions continued to hammer on as the game turned into a one-point game after a technical, and-one and a pair of free throws. However, Trey Townsend made a clutch layup to bring it back to three and didn’t look back as the Lions drove down the floor to try and cut it back to one, but a turnover put the ball in the hands of the Golden Grizzlies where Watts sank two free throws for a 74-69 lead.
One last chance effort from the Lions from beyond the arc didn’t go through as the Golden Grizzlies survived, 74-69.
The Golden Grizzlies (2-3, 0-0 HL) saw two players tied for a team-high in points (18) as Townsend and Jack Gohlke recorded double-digit points. From the floor, Townsend was 6-of-14 with three balls from range as Gohlke tallied five field goals and tacked on three from the line. Rocket Watts also found himself with double-figures and went 5-of-12 for 13 points on the day. Townsend continues to lead the team in boards as he brought down a game-high eight.
As a whole, the Golden Grizzlies went 25-of-59 (.424) from the field with 10 makes from deep (.455). Although the team lost the battle on the glass in the first half, the Golden Grizzlies rallied back in that category and finished with four more boards and two more offensive rebounds.
SCOUTING THE FIGHTING HERD
The Golden Grizzlies take on the Fighting Herd for the first time in team history. Out of the Sun Belt Conference, Marshall has made the NCAA tournament on six* occasions *1987 vacated by NCAA* and advanced to the round of 32 in its most recent appearance in 2018. The seven-time conference regular season champs have taken its tournament title on four occasions.
Marshall (2-2, 0-0 SBC) bounced back in its second game of the Cayman Islands Classic with a win against FIU following an opening day loss to Utah State. It was a tale of two games as the Fighting Herd dropped Sunday’s (Nov. 19) game, 83-60, but handled FIU, 80-69, to advance to the fifth-place game.
The Fighting Herd, 2-2 on the year, opened up its season against Queens and took care of business, 89-73, but fell in a close game against Radford, 66-62.
Marshall is led by Kevon Voyles but spreads the ball around as four players sit with double-digit scoring on the season. A graduate student, Voyles has 61 points on the year for a 15.3 average and hits at a .339 mark from the field (21-of-62). Nate Martin, whose played and started in all four games this season, shoots 63.6% from the field (21-of-33) for best on the team with 13.3 points per game. Martin nearly averages a double-double with 9.0 rebounds per game and has tacked on 11 offensive boards. Senior Kamdyn Curfman is atop the Fighting Herd from range and has drilled 10 threes on the year.
As a whole, the Fighting Herd matches its opposition with 72.8 points per game but allows a better field goal percentage (.424) with the Fighting Herd going 104-of-251 (.414). Marshall loses the battle for the glass by an average of -2.7 but commits less fouls then the team it matches up against.
Tip-off from John Gray Gymnasium is slated for 1:30 p.m. ET, Tuesday, Nov. 21.
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