Council Bluffs, IA—An early lead disappeared for the Marshalltown Community College men's basketball team as the Tigers suffered an 82-72 loss to No. 10 Iowa Western Community College Saturday night in both team's Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) opener.
The Tigers (8-8, 0-1) and the Reivers (16-1, 1-0) traded the first 10 baskets of the game as the two teams held five ties in the opening minutes. With the score knotted at 10, Mike Rodriguez (Boston, MA/Redemption Christian Academy) sparked an 8-0 run for the Tigers to put MCC up 18-10. The Reivers responded quickly, scoring the next 11 points and finished the first half on a 15-4 run to go into the locker room with a 25-22 lead.
Rodriguez and Marquis Cunningham (Bronx, NY/Frederick Douglas Academy) each scored six points for the Tigers in the opening period as the MCC defense limited Iowa Western to just 22 percent shooting in the first 20 minutes.
Troidell Carter (Lilburn, GA/Meadowcreek) reached double-figures for the 12th time this year with a bucket in the opening minutes of the second half but the Reivers had built an early nine-point advantage. Kenny Strong (Youngstown, OH/Chaney) cut the deficit to three with his third three of the night midway through the second half but Iowa Western continued to hold on to its lead.
Guilherme Verardo (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Clube Pinheiros) knocked down a long-range three to cut the Reivers' lead in half at 62-59. MCC continued to hang around thanks to a strong shooting performance at the free throw line. Rodriguez hit a pair to bring the game within four, but on the ensuing possession Iowa Western converted a three-point play to take a seven-point lead at 75-68 and eventually carried out the double-digit victory.
The Tigers will take a break from conference play with a home game against Waldorf JV on Monday night at 7:00 PM inside the Student Activity Center.
