The MCC men's basketball team traveled to Council Bluffs, Iowa Saturday night for the first conference game of the season taking on the Reivers of Iowa Western. The Reivers have had a strong start to the year with a 16-2 record. The high scoring offense that averages 96 points per game, pushed the limits of the Tiger defense as they shot 50.8% from the field collectively. The Tigers struggled with turnovers and sloppy play all game long and would fall 87-74.
MCC's top performer this season Mohamed Thiam was held to 11 points as he spent most the game on the bench after taking two early fouls in the first half and two fouls early in the second. Oscar Kao put together a solid performance going 8-13 from the field and 6-10 from the three-point line for 22 points in his 33 minutes of play. Kelton Edwards would again have a great game off the bench for the Tigers, going 9-13 to lead the Tigers with 23 points.
Iowa Western's starters had productive nights with Isaiah Wade and Patrick Dembley led the Reivers with 23 and 20 points respectively. Decardo Day and Jevon Smith would each add 11 points apiece and help the Reivers shoot 66.7% from the three-point line.
"We have to play smarter and limit our turnovers," stated Assistant Coach Ryan Flack after the game. "We got in foul trouble early and that hurt us, tonight was sloppy and we will clean that up next week and get ready for Southeastern."
The Tigers will be back in action Wednesday, January 13 when they host Southeastern Community College at 7:00 in the Student Activity Center. The Blackhawks of Southeastern have played good basketball all season long coming in with a 16-4 record. The Blackhawks are lead in scoring by three impressive guards in Patrick Jackson, Kourtney Ware, and Victor Nwagbaracha who average 15.6, 14.8, and 12.5 respectively. The game will be streamed live on mccathletics.com with links posted on MCC athletics social media platforms.