×

Blackhawks take MCC to the rack, 89-86

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE - Marshalltown Community College guard Diablo Stewart, right, drives to the basket for the hoop and the harm from Southeastern’s Koby Isaac during the second half of Wednesday’s basketball game at the Student Activity Center. Stewart scored 14 points off the bench in MCC’s 89-86 loss.

For as long as the Marshalltown Community College men’s basketball team had to wait between games, the Tigers’ quest for their first win will have to linger at least a little while longer.

The MCC men led for nearly 10 minutes in the first half and by as many as nine points, but visiting Southeastern secured the lead for good with a 13-0 surge on its way to an 89-86 triumph in Wednesday’s season opener at the Student Activity Center.

Kennedy Milton scored a game-high 27 points to lead the Blackhawks, but none of his points came during that decisive stretch late in the first half. Southeastern made three 3-pointers and went from a 31-29 deficit to a 42-31 lead in a span of 2 minutes, 31 seconds. The Blackhawks took a 44-38 lead into the locker room, scored the first six points of the second half and maintained a lead of at least six points until the final 18 seconds.

MCC trailed 77-60 with 5 minutes to play, but mounted a gradual comeback that came up short in the end. Deon’ta Lagway’s 3-pointer at the buzzer cut the final deficit to six — the closest the score had been since Southeastern’s mad dash to the front.

“We’re excited to be back but it did feel like we should be in the last six weeks of our season and we’re in the first six,” said MCC head coach Ryan Flack. “The guys were ready to play, we’ve been ready to play for a while and we just needed to play somebody else.”

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE - Marshalltown Community College’s Ike Sheppard, left, goes for the dunk over Southeastern’s Jimmy Beane during the opening minutes of Wednesday’s basketball game at the Student Activity Center.

Southeastern’s guard play stole the show, however, even though there were no fans in the stands to applaud. COVID protocols prohibit fans at Iowa Community College Athletic Conference games for the time being, leaving both team benches to manufacture their own energy.

“Our guys have waited a long time,” Flack said. “I think February 26 (2020) was maybe our last game — so we’re 11 months out. It’s just nice to be back. We’ve had some scrimmages but it’s just not the same.”

In the first taste of gameday this season, Marshalltown jumped out to an early lead. The Tigers used back-to-back 3-pointers from Ike Sheppard and Leonard Wilson and a driving layup by Lagway to capture a 22-13 lead, but the Blackhawks slowly whittled away at the deficit.

Southeastern’s attacking back court brought the Blackhawks to the lead and held them in place, as Milton (29), Camryn Weston (19 points) and Koby Isaac (17) did a bulk of the damage.

“We have to do a better job of guarding the ball without fouling and stopping their straight-line drives,” Flack said. “In the second half I don’t know how many times, it seemed like eight-straight possessions they got at least a piece of the paint and that breaks your defense down, so we’ve got to work on that.”

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE

Bruce Carpenter added 11 points off the bench and the Blackhawks triumphed in the opener.

Lagway’s 23 points led MCC, while four others scored in double figures. Sheppard finished with 15 points and a team-high seven rebounds before fouling out, while Diablo Stewart scored eight of his 14 points in a one-minute stretch in the second half. Wilson and David Roberts Jr. both tallied 10 points, while Jaylin Scott recorded eight points and a team-high four assists.

“In the second half we just couldn’t overcome that six- or eight-point hump,” Flack said. “At the same time, Southeastern got up by 15 or 16 and we were able to come back to within five. I was proud of what we did, I thought we played hard. Going back to the first half, I thought we played the first 12 minutes about as hard as we have all year and if we keep that effort up good things will happen to us.

“Just sometimes in there we can’t have letdowns.”

The Tigers return to action on Saturday with a road game at Southwestern, facing the Spartans at 3 p.m. in Creston.

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE

Southeastern CC 89, Marshalltown CC 86

SOUTHEASTERN (1-0, 1-0) — Koby Isaac 5-11 3-3 17, Kennedy Milton 10-14 5-5 27, Camryn Weston 7-7 5-7 19, Jimmy Beane 1-10 0-0 2, Zurabi Zhgenti 0-3 0-0 0, Gavin Kies 2-4 0-0 6, Marcellous Paul 0-3 0-0 0, Bruce Carpenter 3-8 4-4 12, Dakhari Lewis 3-3 0-0 6. TOTALS 31-63 17-19 89.

MCC (0-1, 0-1) — Jaylin Scott 4-6 0-1 8, Deon’ta Lagway 7-15 7-7 23, Leonard Wilson 4-8 0-0 10, Zion Brown-Alvarez 0-2 0-0 0, Ike Sheppard 4-9 5-6 15, Diablo Stewart 5-7 1-2 14, David Roberts Jr. 3-10 4-5 10, Lavarius Hampton 2-6 1-2 5, Rusmir Hamzic 0-2 1-2 1. TOTALS 29-65 19-25 86.

Halftime–Southeastern 44-38. 3-Point Goals–Southeastern 10-24 (Isaac 4-7, Milton 2-3, Kies 2-4, Carpenter 2-4, Zhgenti 0-1, Beane 0-2, Paul 0-3), MCC 9-27 (Stewart 3-4, Sheppard 2-4, Wilson 2-5, Lagway 2-6, Scott 0-1, Hampton 0-1, Brown-Alvarez 0-2, Roberts Jr. 0-4). Assists–Southeastern 15 (Weston 4), MCC 12 (Scott 4). Rebounds–Southeastern 28 (Beane 10), MCC 27 (Sheppard 7). Total Fouls–Southeastern 23, MCC 19. Fouled out–Zhgenti, Sheppard. Technical Foul–Lagway.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.38/week.

Subscribe Today