Photo by Brennen Rupp Marshall’s Jake Hess drives down the lane during their game against Orono on Saturday. The Tigers upset the second ranked Spartans 69-65.

MARSHALL – The old saying goes defense wins championships. Marshall’s championship caliber defense was on full display Saturday evening when second ranked Orono and Minnesota Golden Gopher commit Jarvis Omersa came to town.

The Tigers held the Spartans to 23 first half points and Marshall’s post players held Omersa to four points in the opening frame. That strong start helped the Tigers upset the Spartans, 69-65.

“Defense was really good,” Marshall coach Travis Carroll said. “Our boxing out and rebounding was really good. Jarvis is an amazing athlete. They have some very good basketball players to go with him. We were able to defend the other players on the floor and not let them get going. I think the guys did a good job overall.”

The man that was the primary defender on the future Gopher was senior Jake Hess. Carroll said that Hess did a great job of bodying up Omersa.

Jake did a great job of defending him in the post,” Carroll said. “He was able to get him away from the basket a little bit. As the game goes on it became more difficult. I thought all of our guys who attempted to defend Jarvis did a great job tonight. It was one of those games where we weren’t going to double him because of the other guys Orono had on the floor. It was a fun win for the kids.”

The Tigers set the tone for the game in the opening minutes, as they jumped out to a 9-1 lead. It was Hess that set the fast start in motion when he knocked down a corner 3-pointer off an assist from Trey Lance. The fast start forced a Spartans timeout with 15:48 remaining in the first half.

“It was important to start fast,” Carroll said. “Momentum is important in games like these. When the other team is as good as Orono is it was very important for us to get off to a good start and not get behind and try and catch up against them. It wasn’t going to be an easy game if we had to play catch up.”

Following the timeout the Spartans went on a 13-4 run to take a 14-13 lead. A Hess layup got the Tigers back on top, but the Spartans quickly answered back with to take a 16-15 lead. That would be the last lead the Spartans would have in the remainder of the game, as Bryce Paulsen put the Tigers back on top 17-16.

A Noah Puetz 3-pointer gave the Tigers a 24-18 lead. A few moments later a Paulsen 3-pointer extended the Tigers lead to 29-20. Another Paulsen 3-pointer right before the buzzer gave the Tigers a 32-23 lead heading into the locker room.

“We did a good job of scoring in transition,” Carroll said. “It’s hard to score in the half court against a team like Orono.”

Matthew Onken got the scoring started in the second half to give the Tigers their biggest lead of the game at 34-23. Onken’s basket started a 6-0 run to open the half for the Tigers to push their lead to 38-23.

With the Tigers holding a 49-35 lead the Spartans went on an 8-0 run cut Marshall’s lead to 49-43. The two teams traded baskets and the momentum was swinging back and forth before an Onken dunk swung the momentum permanently to Marshall’s side. Onken’s dunk put the Tigers up 54-47. A few moments later Omersa picked up his fifth foul with 4:06 left in the game.

The Tigers outrebounded the Spartans 33-18. Carroll said his team did an excellent job on the glass.

“That’s going to have to be the recipe for success,” Carroll said. “We have to rebound at a high level. We did a good job of rebounding on both ends.”

With the win the Tigers are now 6-0. Carroll said that this victory over the second ranked Spartans is a staple victory for a Tigers team that only had one starter returning from last year’s state tournament team.

“The kids now know when they work together the success they can have,” Carroll said. “It’s easier said then done working together in all areas of the game of basketball. There are going to be ups and downs through the season. Hopefully we can build on this to try and get to our potential. It’s still early in the year and we still have a lot of work to do.”

Onken led the way for the Tigers with 21 points while Hess scored 12 and Lance finished with 11 points and eight rebounds. Puetz finished with 11 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

The Tigers will look to remain unbeaten on Thursday when the play Sioux Falls Washington. Carroll said his team needs to come out and play with the same energy and focus that they did against Orono.

“We can’t have a let down,” Carroll said. “We want to come out and have a great effort against Sioux Falls Washington. They are a very good basketball team. They’ve beaten us the last two year’s we’ve played against them. We need the same type of effort and focus that we had tonight.”

Orono 23 42-65

Marshall 32 37-69

SCORING: Marshall (Onken 21; Hess 12; Puetz 11; Lance 11; Paulsen 7).

3-POINT FGS: Marshall (Paulsen 2).

REBOUNDS: Marshall (Puetz 9; Lance 8).

ASSISTS: Marshall (Puetz 5; Lance 3).

TURNOVERS: Marshall 16.