Marshalltown, IA—Despite four players scoring in double-figures, the Marshalltown Community College men's basketball team fell to Southwestern Community College 94-80 at home on Wednesday night. The 94 points are the most allowed by the Tigers this season.
Freshman Mohamed Thiam (Dekar, Senegal/Canarias) led MCC with 16 points and 12 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season. Jamir Coleman (San Antonio, TX/Pro Vision) scored 15 points off of the bench while Souf Mensah (Nantes, France/Canarias) added 13 points. BJ Millard (Dunwoody, GA/Dunwoody) chipped in 12 for the Tigers.
The Spartans jumped out to an early 12-4 lead to start the game, but the Tigers put together a 7-0 run to pull within one. Southwestern answered with a 13-2 run of their own, only to see the Tigers claw their way back to a two-point deficit. Thiam's three at the 5:25 mark cut Southwestern's lead to 31-29, but eventually built back up to 46-39 at halftime.
MCC's first half theme of getting close but not close enough continued in the second half as the Tigers fell behind by 10 but got back within three after Juan Coffi's (Barcelona, Spain/Canarias) layup made it 53-50 with 15:47 to play. A 14-3 run from the Spartans erased MCC's threat to take the lead.
A three from Marquas Gafeney (Waterloo, IA/Waterloo East) got the Tigers back to within six, 73-67 with under seven minute to play. That would be the closest the Tigers would get the rest of the way as MCC dropped its third game of the season.
Coffi added eight points, 10 rebounds, and three steals for the Tigers. Reggie Gradwell (Marshalltown, IA/West Marshall) knocked down a pair of three-point shots to spark the offense in the first half.
MCC outrebounded the Spartans 41-35, including a 17-6 edge on the offensive glass. The Tigers' downfall came in the shooting department where MCC posted a 38.6 percent shooting clip compared to a 51.8 percent mark from the Spartans.
The Tigers eclipsed 70 shots in a game for the eighth time this season. MCC is averaging almost 11 shots a game more than its opponents this season.
The Tigers hit the road for the Highland Community College William R. Bear Classic in Freeport, IL this weekend. MCC will open the weekend against Don Bosco Prep at 7:00 PM on Friday night.
