Marshalltown, IA—The Marshalltown Community College men's basketball team fell late at home to Kirkwood Community College on Wednesday night, dropping a hard-fought 78-75 contest. Freshman Jamir Coleman (San Antonio, TX/Pro Vision) led all scorers with 26 points.
Clinging to a three-point lead with under two minutes to play, Kirkwood, the defending NJCAA Division II national champions, scored seven of the final eight points to rally for a victory at the Student Activity Center.
Coleman came off the bench to pour a in a season-best 26 points. The freshman connected on three three-point shots and hit all seven of his free throws. Mohamed Thiam (Dekar, Senegal/Canarias), this week's Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) Player of the Week, recorded his fourth-straight double-double with 16 points a game-high 14 rebounds. Sophomore Brandon Simmons (Harlem, NY/Teaneck) added 12 points and seven rebounds for the Tigers.
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In a highly touted early-season cross-division matchup, the two teams battled from the get-go. Coleman scored four-straight for the Tigers to even the game at nine with 14:15 to go in the first half. Kirkwood went on a 6-0 run, only to see the Tigers score seven straight, capped by a Simmons dunk. Trailing 25-24, MCC put together a 10-1 run and led 36-30 at halftime.
The Tigers maintained a marginal lead early on in the second half. Coleman drained a three at the 10:06 mark for a 54-49 MCC lead. Kirkwood rallied to take a 60-56 edge, but the Tigers answered with six straight points to jump back on top.
Even at 66 with under four minutes to play, Coleman buried back-to-back threes to spark the Tigers and give MCC a 72-68 lead. In the closing minute, the Eagle defense clamped down on the Tigers and prevailed for the victory.
MCC connected on just 39.1 percent of its field goal attempts compared to a 52.8 percent clip from the Eagles. The Tigers won the rebounding battle 42-28, but committed 15 turnovers in the loss.
The Tigers host the 2016 Emerson Classic at the Student Activity Center this weekend. MCC takes on St. John's Northwestern Military Academy at 7:00 PM on Friday and Highland Community College (IL) at 7:00 PM on Saturday.
For more information regarding the Emerson Classic, visit: EMERSON CLASSIC TOURNAMENT HOMEPAGE
