Marshalltown, IA- Despite staying within striking distance, the Marshalltown Community College Men's Basketball team could not overcome a rough shooting night as the Tigers fell to No. 10 Iowa Western Community College 60-55 at the Student Activity Center on Wednesday night. Amir Maddred (Camden, NJ/Camden) led MCC with 12 points.
The Tigers (14-9/1-2) never trailed by more than six in the second half, and held the lead at one point, but the defensive presence down low from the Reivers prevented MCC from pulling off the upset. MCC shot a season-low 26.9 percent from the floor and went just 4-23 from three-point range.
While the MCC offense struggled, the defense kept the Tigers in contention, holding the Reivers to 31.3 percent shooting on the night. Iowa Western connected on just 3-17 shots from beyond the arc.
Maddred grabbed eight rebounds while Souf Mensah (Nantes, France/CCI) added 11 points and eight rebounds. Tyler Miller (Louisville, KY/22ft Academy) scored six points with nine rebounds and Vincent Lasley (Tama, IA/South Tama) added 11 points as the Reivers held a close rebounding margin, 54-51.
The first half provided four ties and MCC held a slim 14-13 lead at the 10:31 mark after a Denzel Ubiaro (London, England/City of London Academy) layup. Iowa Western led by as many as nine in the closing minutes of the first frame and went into halftime with a 31-24 advantage.
Guilherme Verardo (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Esporte Clube Pinheiros) knocked down a three to open the second half and the home team took a 34-33 lead on a Christal Malalu (Eindhoven, Netherlands/Koning Willem I) bucket at the 14:44 mark. The Reivers scored eight of the next 11 points to regain the lead.
MCC pulled within there, 52-49 in the closing minutes as Mensah hit a jumper, but Iowa Western hit eight of their final 10 free throws to hold off the Tigers.
The Tigers travel to Southeastern Community College for a conference battle at 7:00 PM on Saturday.
