Ottumwa, IA—A late lead from the Marshalltown Community College fell short in the Region XI Tournament Semifinal round on Thursday night as the Tigers season came to a close with a 96-91 loss to top-seeded Indian Hills Community College. Sophomore Merdic Green (Levvittown, PA/Harry S. Truman/) finished his MCC career with a personal-best 31 points
After weather delayed the matchup by one night, the Tigers came in to Ottumwa as the No. 5 seed after defeating fourth-seeded Southeastern Community College on Monday night. Both sides played a back-and-forth contest to open the game, exchanging the lead on nine separate occasions.
The Tigers led 40-36 with under five minutes to play in the first half, but the Warriors responded to take a minimal lead 49-47 at halftime. Green scored 18 first half points.
MCC held its own against the Warriors to open the second half. The Tiger offense came alive as MCC put together an 11-0 run to jump ahead 69-61 and quiet the Hellyer Center. Indian Hills eventually erased a 12-point deficit and trailed by just two, 78-76 with 6:40 remaining.
The game found itself in multiple ties over the next few minutes, and with both sides at an 85-all deadlock, Paulius Sakinis (Nebraska City, NE/Lourdes Central Catholic) sank two free throws after missing two on the previous possession to tie the game at 87.
The Warriors scored the next three points, but Terence Shelby Jr. (Peoria, IL/Limestone) drained another clutch three-point shot to tie the game at 90. A basket by the Warriors followed by a free throw from Green put the Tigers behind by one. Shelby Jr. poked the ball away on the defensive end and landed a steal, but the Tigers committed a costly turnover in the closing seconds. Indian Hills was able to hit its free throws to close out the game.
The Warriors will take on second-seeded Northeast Community College in the Region XI Championship at 7:00 PM on Saturday night.
The Tigers saw their season come to an end at the hands of the Warriors for the second straight season as Indian Hills eliminated MCC last season in the Region XI semifinal round as well.
Green and Mike Rodriguez (Boston, MA/Redemption Christian Academy), who missed the closing minutes with an injury, scored 17 points and dished out six assists. The two finished their career at MCC with 36 career wins and a combined 1,845 points.
Shelby Jr. scored 14 points in the loss and Amir Maddred (Camden, NJ/Camden) recorded 11 points. Sakinis grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds.
While the Tigers connected on 29 free throws, the Warriors upped MCC's output with 36 makes, missing just three times on the night.
