It didn’t take long for Brookhaven to set the pace as Sidney Chaffin hit a 3-pointer ten seconds into the game. Following a Marshall turnover Jake Reed went glass plus one to put the Cougars up 6-0 early on. After two Jake Reed free throws put Brookhaven up 10-4 Marshall got a Chase Ferrell 17 foot jumper and a Jordan Brock basket to pull the Patriots to within two points at 10-8 at the 5:23 mark of the opening quarter. Marshall pulled to within two points once again at 16-14 on a Jordan Wyke jumper from the elbow but that would prove to be the closest the Patriots would get as Brookhaven extended their lead to 24-16 on a Jamison Powell offensive rebound and put back to end the quarter.
(Above) Brookhaven's Jamison Powell (#3) gets past Taylor Maurey (#24) of Marshall
The Cougars put together a 17-5 run in the second quarter in which all five starters contributed as Brookhaven pushed their lead to 41-21 with one minute remaining in the first half. Caleb Byrd hit one of two free throws and hit a 16 foot jumper to make it 41-24 but Jake Reed hit a half-court shot at the buzzer to give Brookhaven at 44-24 lead at the halfway point of the contest.
Brookhaven found itself in foul trouble early in the third quarter as both Sidney Chaffin and Brock Smith picked up their fourth fouls. Marshall looked primed to capitalize as they trimmed the deficit to 50-36 on a Taylor Maurey driving basket with 5:08 left in the quarter. Jake Reed’s lay-in and a Jamison Powell free throw got Brookhaven’s lead back to seventeen points at 53-46 but Marshall hung around and with 31 seconds remaining in the quarter a Chase Ferrell lay-in off a Cougar turnover made it 53-42. Brookhaven ended the quarter with two Brock Smith free throws for a 57-44 advantage with one quarter remaining. 
(Above) Caleb Byrd of Marshall with a floater in the paint
Marshall managed to stay within thirteen points through the first four minutes of the fourth quarter but both Taylor Maurey and Jordan Brock fouled out and Brookhaven started to pull away. Nine straight points beginning at the 3:09 mark sent Brookhaven to a 76-56 lead with just under two minutes remaining as both benches emptied.
Marshall falls to 25-8 with the 84-57 loss and will take on Canton in the third place game this evening.
Jamison Powell and Jake Reed each had 19 points to lead Brookhaven. Sidney Chaffin added 16, Bubba Keene 14, Brock Smith 9 and Will Hickman and Matthew Evans 2 each.
Jordan Wyke led Marshall with 15 points, Chase Ferrell added 14, Jordan Brock 12, Jake Omedeo 9, Caleb Byrd 4, Taylor Maurey 2 and John Tomlinson 1. 
(Above) Jake Reed (#11) of Brookhaven drives past Chase Ferrell (#5) of Marshall
Post game comments:
Brookhaven head coach Dale Watts
“Tonight I was really pleased with our guys. We had some ups and downs and different players went south on us a time or two but every one of them managed to regain their composure and come through and do what we needed them to do. Coach Dailey is an excellent coach and I didn’t know exactly what he would do so I was trying to be prepared for everything and the one thing his teams don’t do is quit. A team like that starts firing three’s on you and it can destroy a lead in a matter of seconds.”
What's your gameplan for facing Bowling Green for the sixth time this season?
“I don’t know. I can tell you right now that I’m going to sit on this win for about an hour and go to the hotel and figure out what I have to do because Bowling Green took it to us last week. Of course I’ll be honest with you, I think they’re better than us, I’ve been saying it all year and we’ve been fortunate enough to win. They have some great skill players but I think we do too so I believe it will be a great game.”
