NEWTON — The Marshalltown boys’ basketball team couldn’t slow down Newton in the second half as the Cardinals overcame a halftime deficit for a 68-40 triumph over the Bobcats on Thursday night.

Newton (2-0) scored more points in the third quarter (29) than it did in the entire first half (20), making four-straight 3-pointers and six triples overall in the defining period of play.

The Cardinals knocked down 12 treys in the game — nine in the second half.

“They got really hot in that third quarter,” said MHS head coach Michael Appel. “They got it rolling. We got down pretty big there in a hurry.

“They’ve got some guys that are capable of making shots and getting hot and that’s exactly what happened. It comes down to understanding when a shooter’s got it going like that, closing out and making sure he doesn’t get uncontested looks like that; not letting him get in rhythm.”

Micah Mattes made four treys on his way to a game-high 16 points to lead Newton. Cade Bauer made all three of his 3s in the third quarter and finished with 13 points. Landon Bozarth added two triples and 10 points for the Cardinals.

The Bobcats, meanwhile, shot 3-of-16 from 3-point range in a failed attempt to catch up on the offensive end. Kyle Smith led MHS with 15 points but shot 1-of-10 from distance. He also led the Bobcats with seven rebounds and two steals.

LaMar Johnson chipped in with six points, Jamison Niehouse had five points and five boards, and Drake Gersema had four points, four assists and two steals.

“We’re a young team, we’re still learning,” Appel said. “Our effort’s there. We continue to learn how to put a whole game together, but that first half our effort and locking in on defense was great. They had a really hard time scoring and we’ve just gotta obviously do that for four quarters.”

Marshalltown will get that chance again tonight with another road trip to Des Moines East.

Newton 68, Marshalltown 40

MARSHALLTOWN (0-2) — Jamison Niehouse 2 1-2 5, Drake Gersema 2 0-2 4, Kyle Smith 7 0-0 15, LaMar Johnson 3 0-0 6, Jacob Hayes 1 0-0 3, Dominyc Clure 0 1-2 1, Adam Boone 1 0-0 3, Zane Moore 0 0-0 0, Levi Bell 0 0-0 0, Talon Halsted 1 0-0 2, Tyler Dorothy 0 0-0 0, Isaac Ceniceros 0 0-0 0, Will Swartz 0 1-2 1, Arion Hancock 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 17 2-7 40.

NEWTON (2-0) — Landon Borzarth 4 0-2 10, Christian Ergenbright 2 0-0 4, Cade Bauer 5 0-0 13, Caden Klein 6 0-2 16, Creighton Andrew 4 0-0 9, Tyler Thompson 3 1-2 7, Micah Mattes 0 1-2 1, Dawson Maki 0 0-0 0, Jonah Tibben 2 0-0 5, Qhjuan Coley 0 0-0 0, Craydon West 0 0-0 0, Darien Howard 1 0-0 3. TOTALS 27 2-8 68.

MHS 9 12 11 8 — 40

NEWTON 10 10 29 19 — 68

3-Point Goals–MHS 3 (Smith, Boone, Hayes), Newton 12 (Klein 4, Bauer 3, Bozarth 2, Tibben, Andrew, Howard). Team Fouls–MHS 9, Newton 10. Fouled Out–none.