Marshalltown, IA—Six players reached double-figures, including a team-high 18 from Jamil Maddred (Camden, NJ/Camden) to lift the Marshalltown Community College Men's Basketball team to an 85-77 victory over Iowa Lakes Community College at the Student Activity Center on Wednesday night.
The Tigers never trailed on Wednesday night as the Tigers jumped out to a 16-point advantage in the first half and led by as many as 15 in the second half as MCC improved to 12-5 on the year, snapping a two-game losing streak.
Behind Maddred's career-high effort, sophomore Tyler Miller (Louisville, KY/22ft Academy) added 15 points, Souf Mensah (Nantes, France/CCI) and Christal Malallu (Eindhoven, Netherlands/Koning Willem I) contributed 13 each, and Reggie Gradwell (Marshalltown, IA/West Marshall) and Nick Cross (Beverly, MA/Beverly) scored 11 and 10, respectively, off of the bench.
It was all MCC early on as Gradwell drained a three-point shot to give MCC a double-digit advantage. Cross connected on a three-ball at the 9:53 mark to the Tigers ahead 25-9. The Lakers pulled within three in the closing minutes, but Mensah hit a long-range three of his own in the final seconds to give the home team a 38-31 edge at halftime.
MCC's lead was cut to four in the opening minutes of the second half, but Gradwell showed his range once again, hitting back-to-back three-point shots the Tigers ahead 48-38 which contributed to a quick 14-5 run. The Tigers hit 12 of 16 free throws down the stretch to close out the first semester with a victory.
MCC outrebounded the Lakers 41-38 and forced 15 turnovers in the win. Miller dished out a team-best six assists and Malalu added nine rebounds.
The Tigers open up the second semester of play with a road match at Kirkwood Community College at 7:00 PM on Jan. 6 where MCC looks to avenge a 90-71 loss to the Eagles at the Student Activity Center on Nov. 11.
