Council Bluffs, IA—Tyrese Hoxter (Boston, MA/Charlestown) propelled the Marshalltown Community College men's basketball team to a 75-68 victory over Labette Community College on day two of the Hampton Inn- Holiday Inn Reiver Classic. Hoxter came off the bench to score a team-high 16 points to lead the Tigers to victory.
MCC (3-2) found itself in a defensive battle early on as the Tigers led by just two, 17-15, midway through the first half. The game remained close over the first 20 minutes as the Tigers carried a 32-30 advantage into halftime.
Hoxter and the Tigers used a strong shooting performance in the second half to hold off the Cardinals. As a team, MCC shot 54.2 percent from the floor in the second half, but it was the time spent at the free throw stripe down the stretch that clinched the game for the Tigers. MCC went to the line just three times in the first half, but attempted 22 free throws in the second, connecting on 15.
Hoxter finished the day shooting 8-10 from the line to go along with an impressive stat line. The freshman grabbed three rebounds, dished out two assists and collected four steals as the Tigers forced 19 Cardinal turnovers on the day.
Marquis Cunningham (Bronx, NY/Frederick Douglas Academy) scored a season-high 11 points and Guilherme Verardo (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Esporte Clube Pinherios) hit two three-point shots and finished the day with 10 points. Jamal Gatali (Toronto, ONT/Downsview) scored seven points to go along with a team-high seven rebounds, six coming on the defensive end.
The Tigers will take a week off before returning to action. MCC travels to Indian Hills Community College for the Bowling RV Classic Nov. 22-23. The Tigers will take on Missouri State-West Plains at 4:30 PM on Friday and Barton Community College at 4:30 PM on Saturday.
