Late rally lifts MCC over State Fair 77-76 at Meskwaki Classic

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Marshalltown, IA—Rallying from 12 points down, the Marshalltown Community College men's basketball team came from behind to defeat State Fair Community College 77-76 on the final night of the Meskwaki Bingo Casino Hotel Classic at the Student Activity Center on Saturday night.

In an instant classic battle, the Tigers (4-0) scored nine of the final 14 points to drop the Roadrunners (4-1) in front of a raucous MCC crowd. Freshman Jamir Coleman (San Antonio, TX/Pro Vision) came off the bench to score a team-high 17 points with 15 coming in the second half. Freshman Aaron Hauser (Marshalltown, IA/Marshalltown) shot 4-5 from the floor for the Tigers to finish with 13 points.

Freshman Mohamed Thiam (Dekar, Senegal/Canarias) recorded his third-consecutive double-double, scoring 12 points along with a game-high 16 rebounds. Thiam's rebounding efforts carried the Tigers to a 50-34 advantage on the glass.

Sophomore Souf Mensah (Nantes, France/Canarias, this week's Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) Player of the Week joined the double-digit scoring club with 12 points and added six rebounds. Freshman Berk Karadan (Izmir, Turkey/Izmir Zubeyde) grabbed eight total rebounds, with six of the team's 14 offensive rebounds.

The Roadrunners took an early lead, but a three-point shot from Floyd Preito (Philadelphia, PA/Constitution) at the 13:00 mark of the first half gave the Tigers a 12-10 edge. State Fair regained control and led by as many as 13 in the opening frame. Hauser scored six of his nine first half points in a two minute span to pull MCC within seven, but State Fair took a 40-31 lead into halftime.

Trailing 45-33 in the opening minutes of the second half, the Tigers put together a 9-0 run, capped by a Thiam tip-in with 16:07 to play. The intensity increased for both sides as the ecstatic MCC crowd got heavily involved. Coleman scored five straight in back-to-back possessions, but the Roadrunners maintained its lead, 61-57 with under nine minutes to play.

Freshman BJ Millard (Dunwoody, GA/Dunwoody) knocked down a three and Hauser drained a pull-up jumper to tie the game at 66. Millard came up with a steal on the defensive end and Brandon Simmons (Harlem, NY/Teaneck) finished the fast-break with an emphatic dunk to give MCC its first lead in over 26 minutes.

State Fair jumped back on top, but a three-point shot from Coleman put MCC ahead 75-74. Mensah's driving layup was answered by a State Fair basket with 49 seconds to play. The Tiger defense stood tall on the final possession as Thiam knocked away a shot under the basket at the buzzer to give MCC its fourth-straight win to start the season.

MCC's key to victory was its 22 second chance points thanks to a solid rebounding effort from the Tigers. For the fourth consecutive game, the MCC bench scored at least 34 points, finishing the night with 43. Through four contests, the bench play of MCC is averaging 48.5 points per game.

The Tigers' home-stand continues as MCC hosts Kirkwood Community College at 7:00 PM on Nov. 16 as part of a doubleheader with the MCC women's team.

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