Freeport, IL—A late push down the stretch was not enough for the Marshalltown Community College Men's Basketball team as the Tigers fell to Highland Community College 70-66 in the semifinal round of the 48th annual William R. Bear Classic, hosted by the Cougars on Saturday afternoon. Christal Malalu (Eindhoven, Netherlands/Koning Willem I) scored a team-high 14 points for the Tigers.
The loss sends the Tigers to the consolation match against Sauk Valley Community College at 7:00 PM on Saturday night. The Skyhawks fell to Moberly Area Community College who will take on Highland in the championship game at 9:00 PM Saturday night.
The Tigers tied the game twice late in the second half, but Highland scored six of the final eight points in the final 1:45 to hold off MCC. The Tigers won the championship in 2014.
Joining Malalu in double-figures was Nick Cross (Beverly, MA/Beverly) who scored all 11 of his points in the first half and Amir Maddred (Camden, NJ/Camden) who added 10 points.
Cross sparked the Tigers in the first half as MCC went on a 15-2 run to take a 19-10 lead eight minutes into the game. The freshman hit three straight three-point shots during the stretch. The Cougars slowly chipped away at the MCC lead and tied the game at 24. Highland eventually jumped ahead and took a 38-33 lead into halftime.
Highland took its biggest lead of the night, an eight-point advantage at 43-35 to force MCC into an early timeout in the second half. Reggie Gradwell (Marshalltown, IA/West Marshall) drained a three to pull MCC within two, 49-47. With under eight minutes to play, Tyler Miller (Louisville, KY/22ft Academy) hit a shot to tie the game at 56.
The Cougars built another five-point lead, but Maddred converted a three-point play to tie the game at 64 with 1:30 to go in the contest. The Cougars used a three-point play of their own with under a minute to go to seal the victory.
Jamil Maddred (Camden, NJ/Camden) grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds while Malalu added nine. Miller dished out nine assists to go along with five rebounds in the loss.
MCC defeated the Cougars earlier this season at the Emerson Classic in Marshalltown 99-96 on Oct. 31. Saturday's loss snapped a three-game winning streak against Highland.
