Marshalltown, IA—50 second half points propelled the Marshalltown Community College men's basketball team to a season-opening 84-64 victory over Quakerdale Prep at the Student Activity Center Tuesday night. Sophomore Souf Mensah (Nantes, France/Canarias) led all scorers with 19 points.
Leading by just one, 34-33 at halftime, the Tigers pulled away down the stretch in the second half thanks to a 45.9 percent shooting clip in the final 20 minutes. The Tigers allowed just 31 points to the Eagles in the final stanza to earn its fourth-straight victory to open a season.
Mensah poured in 13 points in the first half to lead the Tigers while Freshman Aaron Hauser (Marshalltown, IA/Marshalltown) scored 11 points total, including a pair of three-point shots in the second half to spark MCC. Sophomore Brandon Simmons (Harlem, NY/Teaneck) filled the stat sheet for MCC on Tuesday, scoring nine points to go along with a game-high 13 rebounds, four blocks, and four assists.
Sophomore Reggie Gradwell (Marshalltown, IA/West Marshall) added nine points while Mohamed Thiam (Dekar, Senegal/Canarias) and BJ Millard (Dunwoody, GA/Dunwoody) tallied eight points each.
MCC used a considerable advantage in the rebounding column to increase its lead in the second half. Mensah pulled down 10 boards total on the night as the Tigers outrebounded Quakerdale 56-36.
MCC jumped out to an early 8-3 lead to start the half after a pair of layups from Mensah. Simmons scored four straight midway through the half to maintain the comfortable lead. Quakerdale put together a quick run of its own, scoring six straight to take a 29-27 lead until Hauser connected on his first-career three-point shot to halt the run. Mensah hit a running layup at the buzzer to give MCC its one-point edge at intermission.
Six lead changes opened up the second half as both sides continued to battle on the court. Trailing 39-38, Gradwell and freshman Berk Karadan (Izmir, Turkey/Izmir Zubeyde) combined to score nine straight for MCC to help build the lead back to eight. The Tigers built its lead to double digits and increased the margin to 21 after another three from Hauser to give MCC a 65-46 advantage with under four to play. The Tigers cruised the rest of the way to earn its first victory of the season.
11 different players scored and grabbed at least one rebound for the Tigers on Tuesday night.
MCC welcomes Clarke University JV for a 7:00 PM matchup on Friday night at the Student Activity Center. Friday night's contest will be part of the Tiger Athletic Club Kickoff Event.
