Marshalltown, IA—Freshman Jamir Coleman (San Antonio, TX/Pro Vision) collected his third 20-point game of the season and the Marshalltown Community College men's basketball team dropped Ellsworth Community College 75-61 at home on Tuesday night.
Coleman was one of three players to reach double-figures on the night for MCC. Floyd Preito (Philadelphia, PA/Constitution) scored a season-high 15 points while Mohamed Thiam (Dekar, Senegal/Canarias) recorded his sixth double-double of the season with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Brandon Simmons (Harlem, NY/Teaneck) added nine points and 11 rebounds in the win.
Simmons connected on a mid-range jumper at the 18:24 mark of the first half to give MCC a 4-2 edge, a lead the Tigers maintained the rest of the night. A three-ball from BJ Millard (Dunwoody, GA/Dunwoody) put MCC up by double-digits, 18-6 with under 15 to play in the half. The Panthers fought back to get within seven, 28-21, but the Tigers pulled away thanks to nine straight points from Preito. MCC led 42-26 at intermission.
The Tigers held on to a comfortable lead for most of the second half, but the Panthers made things interesting with under six minutes to play to make it a five point game, 57-52 in favor of the Tigers. Coleman scored six consecutive points and the Tigers ran away at the end to improve to 7-1 on the year.
Coleman converted all eight of his free throw attempts on the night and is now 35-37 (94.6 percent) on the year. The Tigers went to the line 27 times on the night and hit 17 of their free throw attempts.
MCC controlled the glass with a 45-26 edge as all 12 Tigers grabbed at least one rebound on the night.
This is the second straight year the Tigers have won seven of their first eight games.
Next up for the Tigers is the team's first road trip of the year with a 3:00 PM date at Des Moines Area Community College on Saturday afternoon.
