Des Moines Roosevelt has acquired the right to play really aggressive defense on the perimeter now that the rim is protected at all times.

Des Moines North transfer D’Mir Coleman made his first start of the season and helped the Roughriders to a 69-53 victory over Marshalltown on Friday night at the Roundhouse.

The 6-foot-9 junior was one of four double-digit scorers for Roosevelt (9-3), which gave up 12 3-pointers to Marshalltown but only six shots from inside the arc.

The Bobcats (8-5) tried to slug it out jab-for-jab with the Roughriders, but Roosevelt delivered too many haymakers for Marshalltown to keep getting up off the canvas.

“It’s kind of a tale of two different halves of how we lost track of the game a little bit,” said MHS head coach Michael Appel. “In the first half it was second-chance points that hurt us, but I thought we guarded the three fairly well. In the second half it was more so our turnovers, and they scored off our turnovers. And then it was finding their shooters quicker, and they knocked them down and made that run and we couldn’t respond.

“Ultimately that was the difference in the game that third quarter.”

Roosevelt outscored MHS 20-11 in the third, sparked by a trio of early-in-the-shot-clock triples. Marshalltown had answers for a few of them, but just not enough.

And with Coleman lurking in the lane, the Bobcats couldn’t come up with much on the offensive glass or while attacking the rim.

“Them and Ames are the best teams we’ve played, and they’re right there with Ames,” Appel said. “Their big guy inside obviously makes a difference. He’s just now eligible — this is his fourth game playing — so they have all the pieces to hang with anybody in the state, in my opinion.”

And for nearly three quarters, the Bobcats were stride for stride with them.

Trailing 28-24 at the half, Marshalltown got caught on its heels as Roosevelt’s Chance Burkett and Frank Lee IV made 3-pointers and Charlie King converted a steal into a layup as part of the Roughriders’ 8-3 run to open the third quarter.

Drake Gersema and Jacob Hayes hit 3-pointers for Marshalltown, but Roosevelt got another triple from Burkett, a layup for Coleman and a run-out for Lee for a 7-0 run. Finley Newman’s 3-pointer made it 48-35 going into the fourth period.

“That third quarter they made a run, and once they got rolling and saw a few (shots) go in, it’s hard to slow them down,” Appel said.

The Bobcats didn’t relent, getting a 10-4 run sparked by 3-pointers from Kyle Smith and Hayes, but Roosevelt made 8-of-9 free throws in the last 3:30 to keep Marshalltown at bay.

“It’s encouraging to see,” Appel said of the effort. “We’ve got to control what we can a little bit better, and that’s what’s made us really good and have success — not turning it over for points. We kind of let them speed us up.”

Hayes made five of Marshalltown’s season-high 12 3-pointers on his way to a team-leading 17 points. Smith and Gersema got 12 points apiece, Jamison Niehouse hit for seven points and Damian Segovia added five points and a team-high five assists.

King led Roosevelt with 20 points, Burkett got 17, Coleman finished with 13 and Lee had 11. The Roughriders scored 10 points more than anyone else has against the Bobcats this season.

Marshalltown begins a three-game road swing with Tuesday’s return trip to Mason City. The Bobcats beat the Riverhawks by eight in their first meeting Dec. 12 at the Roundhouse.

Des Moines Roosevelt 69, Marshalltown 53

DM ROOSEVELT (9-3) — Chance Burkett 6 2-3 17, Charlie King 7 5-8 20, Frank Lee IV 3 4-4 11, D’Mir Coleman 6 1-2 13, Finley Newman 2 0-0 6, Asante Ragland 0 0-0 0, Malon Taylor 0 2-2 2, Jude Gross 0 0-0 0, Walter Johnson 0 0-0 0, Ben Maher Widen 0 0-0 0. ttoals 24 14-19 69.

MARSHALLTOWN (8-5) — Drake Gersema 5 1-2 12, Kyle Smith 4 0-0 12, Damian Segovia 1 2-2 5, Jacob Hayes 5 2-2 17, Larrs Schoenfelder 0 0-0 0, Jamison Niehouse 3 0-1 7, Gavin Misek 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 18 5-7 53.

DM ROOS 14 14 20 21 — 69

MHS 13 11 11 18 — 53

3-Point Goals–Roosevelt 7 (Burkett 3, Newman 2, King, Lee IV), MHS 12 (Hayes 5, Smith 4, Gersema, Segovia, Niehouse). Team Fouls–Roosevelt 11, MHS 18. Fouled Out–Niehouse.