The MCC MBB conference season has had a theme this year. Gritty, but unable to finish.
The theme continued on Saturday, February 9 when the Tigers hosted the Blackhawks of Southeastern Community College. The Tigers entered the matchup with an 0-5 record in conference play while the Blackhawks came in at 5-1 in conference at 21-4 overall.
The first half started off slowly for the Tigers as they managed just eleven points in the first eleven minutes. Down 21-11, the home team grinded to stay in the game and managed to make up some ground on the Blackhawks. At halftime, the Tigers had trimmed the SCC lead to two at 33-31.
The second half opened up much like the first half with the visiting Blackhawks opening up a double digit lead. Midway through the second half, the Blackhawks looked to be in control of the contest as Diew Moses converted a layup to extend the lead to 59-38.
But the Tigers weren't about to roll over. Over the next four minutes, the Tigers went on a 16 point run to close the gap to 59-54. The final six minutes featured both teams playing well on the offensive end. The Tigers did much of their damage from the perimeter. Highlighted by back to back three-point buckets by Goran Vidovic to cut the lead to a single point at 64-63 with just 3:32 left to play.
Unfortunately for the home team, the Tigers were never able to pull ahead as the Blackhawks converted their scoring opportunities from the floor and the free-throw line down the stretch to walk away with a 75-67 victory.
While Vidovic and the Tigers did much of their damage from outside of the lane, the Blackhawks took advantage of Tigers' Eduardo Lane seeing limited action and outscored the home team 46-18 in the paint.
The Tigers have just four games left in the regular season, each being conference games. Next, the Tigers will travel to Iowa Western on Saturday, February 19 for a 7 PM matchup with the Reivers.