Marshalltown, IA—Freshman Marquas Gafeney (Waterloo, IA/Waterloo East) buried a three-point shot with 14 seconds on the clock and the Marshalltown Community College men's basketball varsity reserve team stopped Iowa Central JV on the last possession to earn a 64-63 win at the Student Activity Center on Sunday afternoon.
Gafeney led the Tigers with 16 points, but his three from the top of the key proved to be the biggest shot of the day. The freshman also grabbed seven rebounds and collected six steals. Three other Tigers reached double-figures as Ashton Miller (Madison, WI/La Follette) and Cortez Pinks (Des Moines, IA/East) scored 11 each and Jonas Perkis (Trondheim, Norway/Charlottenlund VGS added 10 points.
Tony Smith (Marshalltown, IA/Marshalltown) led MCC with eight rebounds and added eight points. Treatment Ruot (Des Moines, IA/East) filled the stat sheet with six points, four rebounds, and four steals while Blake Carlson (Cedar Falls, IA/Valley Lutheran) rounded out the scoring with two points. Jesus Jimenez (Caracas, Venezuela/Tirso de Molina) came off the bench and added a rebound for the Tigers.
The first half lead never surpassed four points for either side. The Tritons built a six-point lead early in the second half, but the Tigers fought back. The final four minutes produced four ties and four lead changes. The final lead change came from Gafeney's three to put MCC up by one. The defensive pressure from the Tigers on the final possession led to an errant three and the MCC prevailed for the win.
The varsity reserve team hosts Simpson JV at 7:00 PM on Dec. 8.
