Iowa Falls IA—An 18-0 run proved to be the deciding factor on Tuesday night as the Marshalltown Community College Men's Basketball team held off Ellsworth Community College 82-78 on the road. The Tigers improve to 8-1 on the year while the Panthers fall to 7-2.
Christal Malalu (Eindhoven, Netherlands/Willem Koning I) led the Tigers with 16 points, his third-straight double-digit performance and fifth of the season. Amir Maddred (Camden, NJ/Camden) came off the bench to score 14 points for the Tigers and Vincent Lasley (Tama, IA/South Tama) scored 11 points along with a team-high eight rebounds.
The Tiger offense relied heavily on the three-point shot in the opening half as MCC buried five threes in the first 10 minutes of the game, including back-to-back treys from freshman Jamil Maddred (Camden, NJ/Camden). Despite the strong shooting from long-range, the Tigers were unable to shake the Panthers as both sides went into the locker room tied at 39.
Malalu, who scored just three points in the first half, received the ball down low early and often to start the second. The sophomore scored 11 points in the first five minutes to give the Tigers a convincing 57-39 lead. The Panthers slowly chipped away at the MCC lead, but a quick five-point spurt from Denzel Ubiaro (London, England/City of London Academy) put the Tigers back up by double-digits at 69-56 with under eight minutes to play.
Roles reversed down the stretch as it was Ellsworth that found the touch from three-point land. The Panthers knocked down a flurry of threes, including two in a row to tie the game at 75 with over a minute remaining. The MCC defense, paired with strong free-throw shooting in the closing minute, carried the Tigers to victory.
MCC dished out 22 assists for the second-straight game, this time on 31 field goals, led by Souf Mensah's (Nantes, France/CCI) team-high seven helpers. MCC finished 7-15 from three-point range and have now made at least six threes in all but one game this season.
The Tigers return home on Saturday afternoon for a 3:00 PM matchup against Des Moines Area Community College.
