Iowa Falls, IA—The Marshalltown Community College men's basketball team shot 66.7 percent from the floor in the second half to overcome a three-point halftime deficit and defeat Ellsworth Community College 82-79 on Monday night. Troidell Carter (Lilburn, GA/Meadowcreek) matched a career-high with 24 points against the Panthers.
Both teams battled back-and-forth in the opening frame but the Tigers caught fire to open the second half. MCC hit six of its first eight shots, including three straight threes from Guilherme Verardo (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Clube Pinheiros), Merdic Green (Levittown, PA/Harry S. Truman) and Jamal Gatali (Toronto, ONT/Downsview). The Tigers built their lead to as large as 15 midway through the second half.
The Panthers held MCC to just one field goal over the next six minutes, but MCC continued to hold a double-digit lead thanks to a strong free-throw shooting performance. ECC rattled off a 10-2 run to bring the game within four, but John Johnson (Philadelphia, PA/Horace Furness) came up with a critical steal and knocked down a free throw to propel the Tigers to the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) cross-division victory.
Carter reached double-figures for the 12th straight game on 9-15 shooting and knocked down all six free throw attempts. As a team, the Tigers went 30-38 from the line, the second highest total in both categories on the year. Mike Rodriguez (Boston, MA/Redemption Christian Academy) hit a career-high 13 free throws and finished the game with 19 points to along with six assists. Gatali recorded his fifth double-double of the year with 13 points and 10 rebounds while Green added 13 points.
Carter scored the first four points of the game for MCC and Green converted a three-point play at the 16:44 mark to give MCC a 9-5 lead, but the Tigers advantage never grew larger for the rest of the half. The Panthers finished the frame on a 7-0 run to take the three-point halftime lead.
Carter opened up the second half scoring four straight points for the Tigers. With the score tied at 37, Verardo drained a three-point shot to put MCC back on top and sparked a 14-2 run. MCC maintained the double-digit lead for a majority of the second half until the Panthers made their comeback in the waning minutes. The Tigers hit eight of their final 10 free throws in the closing minutes to carry out the win.
MCC limited the Panthers to just 3-16 from three-point range on the night. The Tigers went just 6-16 from beyond the arc, but went 4-5 in the second half.
The Tigers continue cross-division play with a home game against Kirkwood Community College at 7:00 PM on Wednesday night.
