GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands - The Oakland men's basketball team took care of business to cap off its tournament and defeated Marshall, 78-71, today in its final game at the Cayman Islands Classic inside the John Gray Gymnasium.
 
The Golden Grizzlies (3-3, 0-0 HL) finished the Cayman Islands Classic 2-1, good for fifth place, and rallied to win two-straight after dropping its opener against Drake. Oakland saw Rocket Watts, who was named to the Cayman Islands Classic All-Tournament Team, go 7-of-15 from the floor with a game-high 20 points. Watts finished the tournament 20-of-43 from the floor with four from range, seven boards, 18.67 points per game and matched his career high with 23 points against Drake (Nov. 19). Isaiah Jones recorded a double-double, his first of his career, with 10 boards to go with 16 points.
 
The Thundering Herd (2-3, 0-0 SBC) were led by Kevon Voyles who notched 18 points on the afternoon, as Nate Martin recorded a double-double with 11 off the glass and 12 points.
 
Hard defense was played on both ends of the court as both teams couldn't get many buckets to drop early. Once the teams found its groove, it both started attacking highlighted by a Jack Gohlke fast-break layup, which counted off a goaltending call, for Gohlke's first field goal inside the arc. With his two points, it ended his streak of 57-straight shots from range.
 
Play was speedy heading into the first media timeout where nearly any whistles were blown and no subs came in until after. Watts drilled one from deep as Gohlke followed suit and started his three-point field goal streak back at one to give Oakland an early seven-point lead with 13:30 to play.
 
Jones brought the John Gray Gymnasium down after DQ Cole grabbed a defensive board and found Jones streaking down for a fast-break slam. The Golden Grizzlies pushed its lead to seven with under 10:00 to go in the half, but Marshall turned around and took six-straight to make it a one-point game. Marshall kept up its momentum and grabbed its first lead of the game with under 7:00 to go at 22-20.
 
Jones knotted things up late with a hard drive into the paint, and eventually gave Oakland a lead off an offensive board with 1:15 to play. The Golden Grizzlies held onto its lead and headed into the locker room up, 30-29.
 
Watts, who has had a standout tournament, went into the locker room with a team-high 11 points and was one of two players in the game with double-digit points after 20. Gohlke had the team lead with five rebounds, as Jones paced the team with two offensive boards. As a whole, the Golden Grizzlies were 14-of-41 from the floor (.341) with two makes from deep. Marshall's Kevon Voyles led the Thundering Herd with 11 points while forward Wyatt Fricks grabbed nine off the glass in the first. The Thundering Herd narrowly shot better from the floor than the Golden Grizzlies at a 35.3% clip but were 2-of-18 (.111) from range.
 
The game remained at bay early in the second before the Thundering Herd inched ahead at 40-39, but back-to-back shots from range, off the hands of Jones and Gohlke, put Oakland back on top. Gohlke stayed with the hot hand and drilled another from deep to extend the lead, 52-40, as Oakland started to push away with a 13-0 run.
 
The Thundering Herd ended its scoring drought with a dunk and a pair of threes to put itself back into the game, 52-48, with 11:00 to go. Gohlke made some ground for the Golden Grizzlies as he sank yet another from range and a Watts floater put the lead back to 11.
 
Marshall started to force shots from three with under 10:00 to go, but struggled to convert which the Golden Grizzlies took advantage of. The Thundering Herd hung around and remained in the game late at 64-56 just under five. Following the bucket, Chris Conway drove in and went up strong to put the lead back to double digits.
 
Although the Golden Grizzlies remained in control, any time Oakland tried to pull away the Fighting Herd had an answer and made it tight. A put-back dunk made it a six-point game with 2:30 to go as Oakland went more than 3:00 without a point in the closing minutes. Trey Townsend ended the drought with a huge layup and put it back to an eight-point ball game. The Thundering Herd had to resort to fouls and forced the Golden Grizzlies to sink its free throws which put the game to rest as Oakland took the game, 78-71.
 
The Golden Grizzlies improved significantly from the floor in the second half, going 17-of-31 (.548) to bring its game total to 43.1%. Marshall, who improved its shot from range, finished at a 37% clip from the floor with 10 free throws made. The Golden Grizzlies were nearly outpaced on the glass with a -4 differential with all four coming on the offensive side.
 
The Golden Grizzlies fly back to the U.S. and return to play after the holiday break against Xavier Monday, Nov. 27. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. ET and will be streamed nationally on FS1. All Oakland games this season will be live streamed through audio via The Bet1270 AM (WXYT-AM) & the Audacy App with Neal Ruhl on the call.