Photo by Jake McNeill Marshall’s Andrew Elton (21) goes up for a layup after receiving a pass in the paint in the second half of the Tigers’ home win over St. Peter Friday night.

MARSHALL — Despite another slow start offensively for the Marshall boys basketball team against St. Peter, the Tigers were able to pull away from the Saints in the second half for a 70-52 win over St. Peter Friday night.

Marshall couldn’t buy a bucket in the first half, but Andrew Elton was able to use his size to keep the Tigers in the game. Through 10 minutes, Elton scored 7 of Marshall’s 10 points.

While his role isn’t primarily as a scorer, Elton was able to effectively get open and knock down the looks he had when he needed to. Perhaps more important was his selfless play when he had the ball and willingness to look for the open man, Marshall head coach Travis Carroll said.

Elton finished with 19 points on 69% from the field and nine rebounds.

The Saints were nearly able to go into halftime with the game tied at 26 apiece, but Alex Franson knocked down a clutch 3-pointer with four seconds remaining to give Marshall a 29-26 lead at the break.

The basket was one of two for Franson on the night, but he was a valuable distributor for the Tigers and finished the game with five assists.

Careless turnovers were an issue for Marshall in the first half again. Travels were abundant and gave St. Peter plenty of extra possessions to keep the game close.

Marshall was dominant in the paint on both ends of the court. Even when their shots weren’t falling, they were consistently able to penetrate close to the rim offensively and made St. Peter slashers hesitate to go up with the layup on the defensive end.

After leading by 3 at halftime, a second-half surge put the Tigers up by as many as 23. Marshall scored 46 points in the second half, largely because they were able to adjust to St. Peter’s defensive strategies, calm down their play, and find the holes in the press, Carroll said.

Tyler Maeyaert was the Tigers’ second-leading scorer on the night with 15 points. He shot 6-9 from the field and knocked down a pair of 3-pointers.

Both teams wanted to run the fast break all night. The long outlet passes paid off occasionally, but just as often resulted in wasted possessions as the ball bounced off its intended receivers’ hands and out of bounds. As a result, both teams finished the game with more turnovers than assists.

After a rough patch of games, the Tigers have been hitting their stride as of late. To keep their momentum going, the Tigers will need to emphasize their efforts on defense and rebounding, Carroll said.

Marshall (6-4) will have a quick turnaround for their next game, as they go on the road to face Mankato East Saturday at 2:30 p.m.