Tiger men take 6th at Highland tournament
FREEPORT, Ill. — The Marshalltown Community College men’s basketball team went 1-2 on the way to a sixth-place finish at the 56th Annual William R. Bear/Dimond Bros. Insurance Tournament over the weekend at Highland Community College.
The Tigers (7-8) fell to eventual tournament runner-up Moraine Valley in Friday’s opening round, 86-75. Justice Small had career-highs of 24 points and 17 rebounds to lead MCC, but the Tigers couldn’t match the outside shooting of the Cyclones.
Moraine Valley made 10-of-20 3-point attempts, led by TJ Lee. Lee scored a game-high 34 points on 12-of-19 shooting, going 5-for-9 from distance, to lead the Cyclones.
The two teams played even, 40-40, in the second half, but MCC couldn’t overcome a 46-35 halftime deficit. Jayden Hill added a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Tigers, and John Harrington added 10 points off the bench.
Marshalltown stomped Richard J. Daley College in the consolation semifinals on Saturday morning, winning 111-57. Hill had a career-high 30 points, shooting 11-for-17 with an 8-for-10 performance from 3-point range. Harrington had a career-best 23 points, and Small had another double-double of 20 pointse and 15 boards.
MCC’s tournament closed with a 67-63 loss to Sauk Valley on Saturday night. Neither team shot better than 33 percent from the field in the low-scoring finale.
Ahmed Ibrahim led MCC with 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Small scored his third double-double of the weekend with 13 points and 10 boards. Antwan Bridgett pitched in with 11 points and four steals.
“Always a fun one, but tough field of play with good JUCO hoops,” said MCC head coach Ryan Flack. “Effort was there all weekend. I thought our third game was our best one in terms of playing hard and competing. Took the lead late but couldn’t quite get it done.”
The Tigers are off until after the semester break.