Tigers Get Big Win at Home

Marion, AL. – The MMI men's basketball team got back into the win column last night, defeating the Cardinals of Gadsden State Community College at home by a score of 72-70.

The Cardinals took an early 7-0 lead before Tyrone Wright scored Marion's first basket at the 16:22 mark of the first half.  The Tigers cut the lead to one, 16-17, after Aidan Driggers hit a three-pointer from the left wing.  GSCC would extend their lead to double digits with a little over eight minutes before intermission, 19-29.  MMI would claw back getting the deficit to just one point as Nicholas Cham connected one of two free throws with 2:17 on the clock.  Both teams would trade baskets and turnovers before the Cardinals took a 42-38 lead into halftime.

 Wright dunked on MMI's first possession of the second half and Johnathon Crawford tied the game at 44 points apiece after two minutes of play.  Marion took their first lead of the game at the 17:52 mark and extended it to four points when Dashley Estime cut back door for an easy layup.

The Tigers built their largest lead, just six points when Crawford hit a midrange jumper with a little over six minutes to play in regulation.  Gadsden made a small run and took the lead back, 66-68, at the 2:18 mark before another Wright dunk tied the game for the fifth time of the half.  Crawford connected on two free throws at the 1:01 mark to give Marion a two-point lead, 70-68, but an offensive putback by the Cardinals tied the game at 70 points apiece.  After a Marion turnover Gadsden called a timeout with 29.1 seconds to play.  A missed shot by Gadsden State and a rebound by Wright gave the Tigers the ball with 7.1 seconds to play.  Nicholas Cham received the inbound pass and dribbled up the left side of the court, hitting a jumper before the buzzer sounded to give the home squad the 72-70 win.

Johnathon Crawford led MMI with 17 points.  Nicholas Cham added 16 points, and Tyrone finished with another double-double; 16 points and 12 rebounds.  Also scoring for the Tigers was Jaylen Carrington (9), Jahmar Brown (3), Aidan Driggers (3), Jamarion Ezell (3), Dashley Estime (2), and Julian Whitfield (1).

MMI will take a few days off for the Thanksgiving Break and then welcome Reid State CC to the Ireland Athletic Center on Tuesday, November 28, for their first conference game.  Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.