Photo by Chris Drummond Marshall Tigers’ Alex Franson (4) goes up over a Rough Riders defender after getting a steal in Saturday afternoon’s contest against Sioux Falls Roosevelt in Marshall.

MARSHALL — The Marshall boys basketball team was defeated by the Sioux Falls Roosevelt Rough Riders, 64-53, on Saturday afternoon.

The 1963 Marshall state championship team was honored at midcourt prior to tipoff.

The Tigers got off to a rough start. They turned over the ball and gave up transition baskets.

The Tigers also had trouble finishing inside as they continuously missed layups and putbacks.

The Tigers trailed 17-5 in the first few minutes of the half and committed more turnovers (seven) than they scored points (5).

Later in the half, the Tigers settled in and cut the deficit to 8 by halftime, 32-24.

In the opening of the second half, the Tigers started playing with the energy and effort needed to get back into the game.

The Rough Riders had a hard time pulling away from the Tigers due to turnover problems of their own.

Salman Osman hit a 3-pointer to cut SFR’s lead to 3 late in the second half.

However, the Rough Riders responded.

After a timeout, the Rough Riders went back up by 7 and made free throws down the stretch with key defensive rebounds to close out the game.

After the 17-5 timeout in the first half, the Tigers outscored the Rough Riders 48-47.

“Tough start to the game for us,” Tigers head coach Travis Carroll said. “We got down 17-5 and Sioux Falls being a very athletic, talented team, it took us a while to adjust to the type of team we were playing. From that point, I thought our kids adjusted well. Proud of our kids effort. We just didn’t start well in the first five minutes and didn’t close the last five minutes. If we had, the outcome of the game would probably be different.”

Omar Abdi led the Tigers in points with 12 and Alex Franson had 11 points in the loss.

The Marshall Tigers will be back in action when they host Harrisburg Tuesday at 7:15 p.m.