Photo by Jake McNeill Salman Osman (5) performs a crossover against a New Ulm defender in the second half of Marshall’s 78-67 loss to the Eagles in Marshall Friday night.

MARSHALL — The Marshall boys basketball led by as many as 10 points in the second half of their home game against New Ulm, but fell by a final score of 78-67 Friday night.

Omar Abdi came off his 31-point performance against Windom just as hot as when he left it. He drained a three and knocked down an and-1 layup to give the Tigers an early lead and swing momentum in their favor to start the game. He went on to finish the game with 20 points on 58% shooting, including 3-6 from 3-point range.

Part of Abdi’s high-scoring performances as of late can be attributed to the team’s willingness to share the ball, Marshall head coach Travis Carroll said.

“When there’s open opportunities, you know when to attack and when to find open teammates. We had some good runs in the first half and beginning of the second half,” Carroll said.

Salman Osman led the Tigers in assists with six on the night.

New Ulm’s Colton Benson was too much for the Tigers to contain. While his 3-pointers weren’t falling, he still found a way to score 30 points on 55% shooting.

Benson’s success starts with the way the Eagles rebounded the ball. New Ulm grabbed 14 offensive rebounds on the night, and while Marshall grabbed 15, New Ulm tended to capitalize more.

“We had a few too many possessions where we allowed New Ulm to have second and third opportunities with their offensive rebounds. That kind of slowed us down on offense because we weren’t getting stops on defense because we weren’t finishing possessions,” Carroll said.

Marshall didn’t hold any sort of size advantage, but they found a way to dominate in the paint. Their wings were consistently able to slash to the rim on offense and New Ulm found little success on the other end.

Andrew Elton finished second on Marshall in scoring with 15 points on 6-8 shooting. He also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.

The Tigers led 35-30 at halftime and had momentum following an Abdi putback layup at the buzzer.

Despite the game being held on Marshall’s home court, New Ulm brought with it a large group of fans that made their presence known. Oftentimes, their cheering was louder than that of the home Tigers’ fans.

The Tigers came as close as one possession in the final minutes, but a spurt of free throws after the Tigers intentionally fouled New Ulm to extend the game caused the final margin to balloon.

Marshall (6-10) will return to action tonight at 7:15 p.m. when they host Mankato West.