SHOOTING — Brooke’s Pete Fodor attempts a shot against John Marshall on Friday night. - Nick Henthorn

MOUNDSVILLE — Through one half of play, Friday’s OVAC 5A third-fourth place game seemed to be well in-hand for the John Marshall Monarchs.

Up by as many as 19 at one point in the second quarter, and leading 40-27 at the half, things got interesting for the fourth-seeded Monarchs before the final buzzer.

The two-seeded Brooke Bruins came back to tie Friday’s game on two occasions in the fourth quarter, and had an opportunity to tie the game once more in the final seconds, but came up one 3-pointer short of overtime in a 59-56 loss to the Monarchs, who secure the third-place spot and end their conference tournament with a victory.

“Very eventful,” John Marshall head coach Mike Thomas said. “Went up 19 at one point in the second, they got a couple threes– in the third we wanted to extend our lead, but we had a couple turnovers, they came out, made some plays and they made it a game and tightened this up a little bit. But we were able to make plays down the stretch and hit some free throws and get some key stops to win the game.”

Brooke closed the distance to just three by the end of the third quarter, down 46-49, and the Bruins’ Pierce Ferrell knocked down a 3-pointer to knot the game at 49. While a score inside and split free throws would push John Marshall back ahead, Andrew Murdock tied the game once again, 52-52, with a 3-pointer of his own with 5:30 left in the game.

Up against the ropes, John Marshall showed their poise over the next few minutes, with scores inside coming from Bryar Cork and Preston Watkins, while the Monarchs defense kept the Bruins off the scoreboard. With 2:30 to play, JM led 56-52.

It was a crucial stretch that put the Monarchs back in the driver’s seat for the game’s closing minutes.

“We’ve been in some tight games this year,” Thomas said. “I think that experience kind of helped us late. Some of those games we’ve lost, some games we’ve won, but I think that experience helped us tonight, especially.”

With 90 seconds left in the game, Watkins split a pair of free throws, and a spinning score inside by Brooke’s Grant Yost had the Bruins within three, 57-54.

The Bruins were sending John Marshall to the line the rest of the way. The Monarchs’ next two trips to the stripe, they split their free throws, keeping Brooke within striking distance. A reverse layup by Andrew Murdock once again made it a three-point game, 59-56 with 35 seconds on the clock.

Sent to the foul line once again, John Marshall came up empty, missing both, but Brooke had no timeouts left. A reach-in foul at the top of the key stopped the clock with eight seconds left, and John Marshall called a timeout thereafter to set up their defense. A final 3-point attempt was short, and the Monarchs had earned a hard-fought victory.

Thomas, in his second year as Monarchs head coach, was pleased with his team’s performance, and also focused on more long-term goals.

“Year two, we’re still building the program,” Thomas said. “To get to be in this spot in the OVAC is nice, and for those guys to win and take third place, that’s pretty good for us. But like I said, we’re still building and we’re still trying to get to where we want to be, which is downstate. It’s just a stepping stone.”

Watkins led John Marshall with 16 points, while Sincear Saunders-Paige scored 13 and Cork scored 10.

Murdock netted a game-high 21 points for Brooke, while Ferrell finished with 11.

John Marshall made six 3-pointers and shot 11-20 from the foul line. Brooke made nine 3’s and shot 7-11 from the stripe.

John Marshall 59, Brooke 56

BROOKE (10-8) — Yost 3 1-3 7; Horstin 1 0-0 2; Sperringer 1 0-0 2; Murdock 7 3-4 21; Morris 2 0-0 4; Ferrell 4 0-0 11; Fodor 2 3-4 9; Totals 20 7-11 56. JOHN MARSHALL (8-10) — Saunders-Paige 4 3-7 13; Cork 5 0-0 10; Snyder 3 1-2 7; Watkins 4 6-9 16; Clegg 2 0-0 5; Helms 3 1-2 8; 21 11-20 59.

Three-point goals: Brooke 9 (Murdock 4, Ferrell 3, Fodor 2). John Marshall 6 (Saunders-Paige 2, Watkins 2, Clegg, Helms).