Marshalltown, IA—After leading by just four points at halftime, the Marshalltown Community College men's basketball team outscored Clinton Community College 42-22 in the second half en route to a 73-49 victory over the Cougars on Wednesday night. Mike Rodriguez (Boston, MA/Redemption Christian Academy) posted a career-night with personal highs of 27 points and nine steals.
Rodriguez connected on all six of his field goal attempts and all three shots from the free throw line in the second half to record his fourth 20-point game of the season. Rodriguez was one of three players to reach double-figures for the Tigers, joining Jamal Gatali (Toronto, ONT/Downsview) with 16 and Troidell Carter (Lilburn, GA/Meadowcreek) with 10.
Since taking over as a starter on Jan. 8, Rodriguez has averaged 18.5 points per game. "When coach called on me to be a starter," said Rodriguez, "I realized it was an opportunity for me to show that I can be a leader on the court. I knew I had to step up and I feel like I've been playing my best basketball as a starter."
With the Tigers holding a one-point lead at the 12:06 mark of the first half, the Tigers pulled away with a quick 9-0 run, including five from Rodriguez to take a 22-12 lead. The Cougars continued to hang around and eventually tied the game at 24 until Rodriguez drained a three-point shot to put MCC back on top. With 10 seconds remaining in the half Rodriguez forced a turnover and hit the fast break layup to send MCC into halftime with a 31-27 advantage.
After scoring five points in the first frame, Gatali scored four of the team's six points to open the second half. Rodriguez converted a three-point play to give the Tigers their largest lead of the night at 42-31 with 15:01 to play. MCC held onto a double-digit lead for the majority of the half as the Tiger defense forced 11 second half turnovers and 24 total to pick up their third straight win.
The Tigers registered 18 steals against Clinton, the second-most this season for MCC. During their three-game win streak, MCC is averaging 17.0 steals per game while forcing 23.7 turnovers per contest. The Tigers are also shooting 46.3 percent from the floor during the stretch.
Marquis Cunningham (Bronx, NY/Frederick Douglas) scored eight points to go along with nine rebounds for MCC as the Tigers outrebounded the Cougars 46-38. Gatali and Terrell Clyburn (Romulus, MI/Romulus) each grabbed seven boards on the night.
The Tigers will face their biggest challenge of the season on Saturday as MCC will host No. 6 Indian Hills at 7:00 PM. The game will be a part of Down syndrome awareness night where the Tigers will raise both money and awareness for children with Down syndrome through GiGi's Playhouse of Des Moines. Tickets to the game will be $10 with half of the sales going to support Down syndrome awareness.
