Marshalltown, IA—The Marshalltown Community College men's basketball team dropped an 81-60 Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) matchup to No. 17 Iowa Western at home on Wednesday night, falling to 2-3 in league play. The Tigers were led by Mike Rodriguez (Boston, MA/Redemption Christian Academy) with 25 points.
Rodriguez hit the 20-point plateau for the third straight game after scoring 15 first half points for the Tigers. Troidell Carter (Lilburn, GA/Meadowcreek) scored 11 points to reach double-figures for the ninth straight game. MCC hit just 26.1 percent of their shots compared to the Reivers who shot 50.0 percent from the floor, including 47.9 from beyond the arc.
MCC fell behind early as Iowa Western scored the game's first 10 points. Rodriguez and Carter combined to keep the Tigers afloat early on, combining to score the first 18 MCC points. A dunk from Terrell Clyburn (Romulus, MI/Romulus) at the 6:56 mark brought MCC within nine, but the Reivers outscored MCC 18-9 the rest of the half to double up their lead at the break.
Iowa Western extended their lead to 29 until Kenny Strong (Youngstown, OH/Chaney) came off the bench to score seven straight points, including a three-point shot. The rally was short-lived as the Reivers earned the conference win to improve to 3-2 in ICCAC play.
After shooting below 66.0 percent from the free throw line in each of their last three games, the Tigers responded by shooting 83.3 percent (20-24) from the line, including 7-9 from Rodriguez and 4-5 from Jamal Gatali (Toronto, ONT/Downsview).
MCC will travel to first-place Southeastern Community College on Saturday to take on the Blackhawks at 7:00 PM. Southeastern scored a 66-54 victory against MCC on Jan. 15
