Marshalltown, IA—Making his season debut, Damion Smith (Boston, MA/La Lumiere Prep) provided a spark off the bench as the Marshalltown Community College men's basketball team opened up the second half of the season with a 100-80 victory over Quakerdale Prep Academy Tuesday night at the Student Activity Center. Tuesday night's game was rescheduled from Monday night.
Smith entered the game at the 15:48 mark of the first half and made an immediate impact, scoring six straight Tiger points in just over a minute of action. The freshman finished with a team-high 19 points. Mike Rodriguez (Boston, MA/Redemption Christian Academy) scored 18 points to go along with eight assists, six steals, and five rebounds in the win.
Joining Rodriguez and Smith in double-figures was fellow Boston native David Stewart (Boston, MA/Madison Park) who recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Terence Shelby Jr. (Peoria, IL/Limestone) knocked down three three-point shots to finish with 17 points while Vincent Lasley (Tama, IA/South Tama) grabbed 12 rebounds to go with eight points.
All 10 players that saw action for the Tigers appeared in both the scoring column and rebounding column as MCC outrebounded the Eagles 59-30. The Tigers shot 49.4 percent for the game while limiting Quakerdale to just 37.9 percent shooting.
The Tigers held a 10-6 lead through the opening minutes of play, but Smith's 6-0 run ignited both the offense and defense. Following Smith's spurt, Shelby Jr. put together a 7-0 run of his own to extend MCC's lead to 23-8. The Eagles battled back to bring the game within single digits, but MCC managed to take a 46-35 lead into halftime.
Quakerdale opened the second half clawing its way back into competition, getting to within six, only to see Shelby Jr. drain a corner three-point shot to halt the Eagles. A 13-2 run midway through the second half put the game out of reach as MCC collected its 10th straight victory.
Due to Monday's postponement, the Tigers are forced to play on back-to-back nights, making the trek to Kirkwood Community College for the team's final nonconference matchup Wednesday night at 7:30 PM. The Tigers travel to Southeastern Community College for a 7:00 PM Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) matchup on Saturday.
