COLLEGE MEN'S BASKETBALL: DURING A SEASON OF MILESTONES, MARSHALL DOMINATES AS ALFRED WINS AT ELMIRA (24 PHOTOS) (2023-01-23)

By Brian Fees
Southern Tier Sports Report
ELMIRA — On back-to-back possessions Brewster Marshall hit big threes for the Alfred men’s basketball team, as a section of fans cheered on the former Horseheads star.

Marshall made his last collegiate trip to Elmira a special one, notching a double-double to help lead Alfred to a 85-61 win over the host Soaring Eagles.

Marshall had 21 points, on 8-for-13 shooting from the field and 3-for-4 from behind the arc, adding 12 boards and two blocked shots.

It was a game where Elmira got off to a fast start and led most of the first half, before Alfred closed the half strong and led 35-30 at the break. Alfred then outscored the Soaring Eagles 50-31 in the second half to get the win.

Spencer Riley led Elmira with 14 points, Dylan Jacob had 12 and Tyler Cardello had 11 points.

“It’s kind of sad,” Marshall said of his final game at Elmira. “I love having my coaches from high school come out and support me every single year. All five of them. I love having them, my family also comes out every single years. It’s unbelievable having that support coming out every single time I come here and I’m definitely going to miss it.”

The performance against Elmira was the latest big game for a player who has had a dominant season, and career.

Marshall is scoring 14.4 points with 7.7 rebounds a game. He’s shooting an amazing 46% from three as a 6-foot, 8-inch post player.

“It’s strange,” Marshall said of being in his final college season, as a fifth-year player for Alfred. “Definitely a little more wear and tear on the body this year, as I get older. I know once the season is over there is definitely going to be a little period of what do I do now? I am trying to live every day, play as hard as I can every day, because I know it’s coming to an end soon.”

Things are a little different now as a fifth-year player as Marshall is playing with a lot of younger guys this season.

“Playing with a lot of young guys on the team,” he said. “Trying to lead them to be the best players and people they can be. Like Bob (Robby Hicks) today. Coming out and having a huge day for us today (18 points on 7-for-10 shooting with four threes). It’s amazing to see all of them grow as the season comes on and getting better and better.”

This year Marshall has used all the knowledge he picked up as a younger player and is passing that on to this year’s younger players.

“Everybody has to lead in their own way,” Marshall said. “It’s lead by example now and taking what I learned when I was one of the younger guys and passing that on to the younger guys.”

This season has been a year of milestones for the Horseheads graduate. He went over 1,000 career points and over 650 career rebounds this year.

Marshall now has 1,227 career points and 681 rebounds for his career.

“I try not to think about them,” Marshall said of the milestones. “I try and go out everyday and win. I try and go 1-0 every day and try and be the best leader, best player, best teammate out there I can and that comes along with being those kind of things.”

One of the things that has helped Marshall hit the milestones in his career is being able to stay healthy.

While injuries cost him time on the court in high school, he’s gotten healthier and healthier as his college career has gone on. He played in 22 games this year and has played in all 17 games this season.

“It is so nice to be able to play and consistently play,” Marshall said. “Knock on wood, I haven’t missed a game this year, which is the first time since probably modified basketball back at Horseheads. It’s a blessing and I hope it continues.”

For Marshall it’s good to see that all the work he’s put in since he was a kid has paid off with healthy, productive seasons in college.

“It’s very nice, it’s nice to see all the hard work kind of pay off,” Marshall said. “Taking everything I learned from hard work, time management, being persistent and all those things. All the adversity I had to go through to get here, everything comes together and it’s very nice to see it’s paid some dividends now.”

Marshall has scored in double figures each of the past four years, after making an impact right off the bat, scoring 9.3 points a game as a freshman.

After five years with the program, next year will be different not having basketball, but Marshall is hoping he’ll have work to focus on next winter.

“Hopefully I’ll have a job at that point and be able to start doing stuff in the real world and be able to be successful elsewhere,” Marshall said.

This year Marshall is getting his MBA, after graduating last year with his bachelor’s in science for engineering.

Whether there had been basketball or not, Marshall was planning to get his MBA this year.

The Covid year has given Marshall a chance to keep playing basketball while he gets his MBA.

“It’s fantastic, it’s a blessing,” Marshall said. “I consider myself lucky every day, because I am able to continue playing basketball and get a great education.”

Playing basketball while he’s working toward his MBA helps keep the year normal for Marshall.

“It gives me a routine to follow and I’m able to go in and do the things I’ve known how to do the past four years,” Marshall said.

This season has been an exciting one for Marshall as the team is off to a 13-4 start to the year.

“Very excited,” he said. “It’s great, everybody has roles and fills them very nicely. We have a couple more big games coming up next week and we have to execute in those, because 13-4 is great, but we want to win a championship at the end of the year and that’s what we are trying to do.”

The team has games against Nazareth at home on Friday and home against St. John Fisher on Saturday.

For Marshall every road trip this year is just more memories he is making.

“Just trying to soak it all in,” Marshall said.

The goal every year is to try and win a championship, but this year does have a little extra meaning with it being Marshall’s last year.

“It’s the same thing every single day, doing my best to win,” Marshall said. “But, there is a little bit more on the line with the postseason with this being the last year.”
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IN TOP PHOTO: Alfred’s Brewster Marshall. . .  PHOTOS BY BRIAN FEES.


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