Norfolk, NE—Freshman Jamil Maddred (Camden, NJ/Camden) sunk a pair of free throws in the closing seconds and the Marshalltown Community College Men's Basketball team held off a desperation three at the buzzer to drop Northeast Community College 77-74 on the road. MCC improves to 17-11 overall and 2-4 in Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) play.
The Tigers led 77-68 with 13 seconds to play, but the Hawks managed to convert a three-point play and hit three free throws with two seconds on the clock. On the ensuing inbounds, Northeast forced a five-second violation, but the home team's three-point shot from the corner clanked off the rim as MCC held on for the victory.
Amir Maddred (Camden, NJ/Camden) was a force in the paint for the Tigers, coming off of the bench to score 17 points and grab six rebounds, both team-highs. Nick Cross (Beverly, MA/Beverly) also came off of the bench and scored 16 points, including four three-point shots, and pulled down five rebounds.
Tyler Miller (Louisville, KY/22ft Academy) added 10 points and Jamil Maddred scored eight to go along with a career-high six steals, four rebounds, and three assists. Guilherme Verardo (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Esporte Clube Pinheiros) knocked down all three of his three-point shots for nine points in the win.
As a team, the Tigers shot 52.9 percent (9-17) from beyond the arc, the team's second best mark this season and the ninth time the team has hit at least nine threes in a game this year. MCC forced 22 Hawk turnovers and held the opposition to just 39.1 percent shooting, including 5-16 from three-point range.
The Tigers opened the night with the game's first seven points and led 10-1 after a pair of three-point shots, one from Verardo and another from Souf Mensah (Nantes, France/CCI). MCC built its lead to double-digits after Vincent Lasley (Tama, IA/South Tama) scored five straight for a 24-13 advantage. MCC was able to ward off a 13-0 run from the Hawks and took a 34-30 lead into halftime.
After three early ties in the second half, Northeast was able to take its first lead of the night at 42-41 with 12:29 on the clock. Tied at 47, Mensah hit a basket and Cross followed up with a three-point shot to put the Tigers back on top.
The Tigers relied on the sharpshooting of Cross and Verardo down the stretch as the two hit a pair of three-point shots each in a span of 3:16 as MCC led 68-59 with just under four minutes to play.
A three-point play from Miller with 30 seconds remaining kept MCC ahead by a comfortable margin, 75-68. Despite the late surge from the Hawks, MCC was able to defeat Northeast for the second time this season. The Tigers won 71-58 on Jan. 23 at the Student Activity Center.
MCC wraps up its home regular season slate with an ICCAC contest against Southeastern Community College at 7:00 PM on Feb. 17. Six sophomores will be recognized as part of Sophomore Night for the Tigers prior to the game.