Tigers Improve to 2-0 in ACCC North Action

Tigers Improve to 2-0 in ACCC North Action

The MMI men's basketball team improved to 2-0 in the ACCC North after defeating Gadsden State Community College 62-49 Tuesday evening.  The Tigers jumped out to a 9-0 start to start the game and maintained control throughout. 

Halfway through the first half MMI extended the lead to double digits when Tyquarious Arnold got a steal and passed it ahead to John Clayton for a breakaway dunk.  Marion would go cold from the outside and allowed the Cardinals to cut the lead back to single digits.  Freshman Carlos Bell scored on back-to-back plays and Quamauri Hardy scored two of his eleven points to give the home squad a 38-25 lead at halftime.  Hardy also had three rebounds and four steals for the NJCAA 20th ranked Tigers.

The back and forth battle continued throughout the second half as Marion extended the lead only to see GSCC try to make several runs.  Halfway through the second half sophomore point guard Treyvon Francis got an easy putback to give the Tigers a 52-38 lead.  The lead grew to 19 points with 4:29 left on the clock but the visitors wouldn't go away quietly.  Freshman David Watkins scored the last two points for MMI as they were able to run out the final 24.5 seconds to secure the victory.

Charles Tripp, last week's ACCC Player of the Week, led Marion with 18 points.  Francis finished with nine points and five assists for the Tigers.

Marion, now 12-1 on the season, is back in action Thursday night at home against West Georgia Tech in non-conference action.  Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.