The Marshalltown Community College men’s basketball team needs a break. This wasn’t how the Tigers wanted to go into that holiday, however.

NIACC fired out of the gates and got control early, holding off the Tigers for a 93-66 win on Wednesday night at the Student Activity Center.

The visiting Trojans (9-5) scored the game’s first nine points, followed shortly thereafter with a 10-0 run and never led by fewer than eight after that 19-3 start to the game.

MCC (4-12) found its groove from the 3-point line to eradicate its rough start on both ends of the court, but the Tigers couldn’t slow down NIACC enough to make a game of its last contest before the much-needed holiday break.

Twelve different players scored for the Trojans, who led 50-34 by halftime and pulled away from there.

“I thought we wanted to play hard, I thought we did play hard at times, but on a scale to 10 of playing hard, I thought we were just at a four tonight,” said MCC head coach Ryan Flack. “We just didn’t quite have that next gear.

“It’ll be a good break for guys to get home and reset. We’ve had several guys that have decided to do something different and I can’t wait for them to leave so our team can fully reset and be back. The guys that want to be here are going to be here, so that’s exciting.”

The Tigers’ ever-evolving roster was just too short to keep NIACC off the boards, not that the Trojans did a lot of missing. Lance Helming hit five 3-pointers on his way to a team-high 19 points for NIACC, which had four double-digit scorers in the game.

The early surge by the Trojans was too much for MCC to match, no matter the effort.

Tiger sophomore guard Sean Conway finished with a career-high 18 points to lead the team.

“I thought he was good tonight, and we’re gonna need him the second semester,” Flack said of the Hocking College (Nelsonville, Ohio) transfer. “He’s got to let the game come to him a little bit. I think his defense is good offense, and that his best offense is his defense.”

Antoine Glasper added 14 points — all in the first half — while Tre’Von Coney, Chason St. Vil and Tavon Rhodes finished with seven points apiece. Tristan Christopher and Hassan Bush added five points each, and Tom Guma added four.

The Tigers are off until Wednesday, Jan. 7, when they host Western Iowa Tech in a 7 p.m. home game.

“I think we have like eight or nine home games in January, so the schedule couldn’t be friendlier for us,” Flack said. “We just need to reset. I’m excited for the reset and I think the guys are too.”

NIACC 93, MCC 66

NIACC (9-5) — Jacob Martin 4 0-0 9, TJ Cusciotta 2 0-0 4, Lance Helming 7 0-0 19, Joseph Fitch 5 2-2 12, RJ Mitchell 3 0-0 6, Cameron Reigard 5 2-2 12, Bryson Robinson 3 0-0 6, Eli Menke 1 0-0 3, Vince Lancaster 1 0-0 2, Kam’ron Solomon 4 1-1 10, Sam Howland 1 0-0 2, Jordan Terhune 4 0-3 8. TOTALS 40 5-8 93.

MCC (4-12) — Tre’Von Coney 3 1-3 7, Tristan Christopher 2 0-0 5, Tom Guma 2 0-0 4, Hassan Bush 1 2-2 5, Antoine Glasper 5 0-0 14, Sean Conway 6 4-4 18, Brandon Mathern 0 0-0 0, Chason St. Vil 3 1-2 7, Alejandro Martinez 0 0-0 0, Tavon Rhodes 2 2-3 7. TOTALS 24 10-13 66.

Halftime–NIACC 50-34. 3-Point Goals–NIACC 8 (Helming 5, Martin, Menke, Solomon), MCC 8 (Glasper 4, Conwawy 2, Christopher, Bush). Total Fouls–NIACC 14, MCC 11. Fouled Out–none.