Burlington, IA—The Marshalltown Community College men's basketball team held a double-digit lead midway through the second half but the Southeastern Community College Blackhawks came from behind to knock off the Tigers 66-63. MCC falls to 12-12 overall while SCC, ranked No. 20 in this week's NJCAA Division I poll, remained undefeated in Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) play at 5-0.
The Tigers used a strong shooting performance and a solid defensive stand in the first half to jump on the Blackhawks early. A decisive 12-2 run late in the second half put SCC on top for the first time all night and the Blackhawks held on for the win. Mike Rodriguez (Boston, MA/Redemption Christian Academy) had one final look to tie the game at the buzzer, but this week's ICCAC Player of the Week's 35-foot three-pointer rimmed out.
The Tigers came out firing to open the game against the first-place Blackhawks. Rodriguez drilled a three-point shot to give MCC a 10-2 lead. The Tigers held SCC without a field goal for the first 6:30 of the game. Guilherme Verardo (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Clube Pinheiros) connected on three straight three-point shots and John Johnson (Philadelphia, PA/Horace Furness) extended the lead with a three of his own to beat the shot clock and put MCC up 28-14.
Verardo finished the first half with 11 points while Rodriguez scored nine for the Tigers. MCC shot 66.7 percent from the floor in the first 20 points and held a 34-26 lead at the break.
MCC built its lead back up to double-digits with a 43-32 edge in the opening minutes of the second half. SCC brought the game to within three until Troidell Carter (Lilburn, GA/Meadowcreek) knocked down two free throws to put MCC back up by five.
Following a timeout, the Blackhawks came out and went on their 12-2 run to go up 60-55. The Tigers continued to battle as Rodriguez hit a pair of free throws to cut SCC's lead to one, 62-61, with 25 seconds remaining. The Blackhawks answered with two free throws of their own. On the ensuing possession, Carter was fouled and hit two more free throws to keep the game within reach.
SCC went back up by three but MCC had one final shot with 7.1 seconds to play. Rodriguez drove the length of the court only to see his shot at the buzzer hit the back end of the rim.
This was the fourth game of the year that the Tigers have lost by less than five points.
MCC remains in fourth place in the ICCAC after Northeast Community College fell to Iowa Western Community College on Saturday night.
After playing five games in 13 days, including three against ranked opponents, the Tigers will welcome a week long break before hosting Northeast at 7:00 PM on Saturday.
