Western Kentucky Pulls Away From Marshall 59-45

It was a game full of runs, but it was Western Kentucky who pulled away with a momentum grabbing run in the final ten minutes of the second half to eliminate Marshall 59-45 in the First Round of the Conference USA Tournament.

The first half saw WKU jump out to a quick and commanding 11-1 lead in the first four minutes of the game.

Then Marshall went on a 13-4 spurt soon after to pull within one at 15-14, but WKU would go on a 9-0 run over the next five minutes and end the half with a 26-20 lead despite shooting under 30 percent in the first twenty minutes.

WKU led from wire-to-wire, but Marshall made a scrappy second half spurt that made things interesting for a second.

J.P. Kambola threw down a monster dunk, plus the foul and free throw to cap off a 6-0 Marshall run, the Herd crept within a possession with WKU leading 41-39 with 10:26 left in the second half.

Chris Harrison-Docks led all scorers with 18 points and sank a pair of free throws to finish off a 12-2 run over an almost six minute span that grew the Hilltopper lead to 56-41 with 4:34 left in the game, and ultimately sank Marshall's upset bid.

T.J. Price chipped in 13 points and seven rebounds, Trency Jackson also reached double figures with 11 points.

WKU held Marshall to just 30 percent shooting from the field for the night, while shooting over 50 percent in the second half, and turned 17 Marshall turnovers into 22 points on their side of the scoreboard.

The Toppers notch their third straight 20th win season, and will face UAB tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. Mountain Time tomorrow.

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