Tigers complete comeback vs. Fairmont
Tigers defeat Cardinals 67-49 to snap seven-game losing streak
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MARSHALL -- The Marshall boys basketball team had lost seven straight games coming into Tuesday's home matchup against Fairmont. Yet, after dropping a pair of heartbreakers at home against New Ulm and Mankato West in their previous two games, The Tigers were the ones doing the heartbreaking this time, pulling away for a 67-49 comeback win over the Cardinals.
"It was important for us to get a win tonight," Marshall head coach Travis Carroll said after the game. "This past weekend, we had two games where we had an opportunity to win both games... we were interested to see how the team would respond."
"Our team had a great practice yesterday... it was very competitive, very intense. There are times in games where we need to be more focused, more intense, more competitive, and last night's practice was all of the above. Hopefully, we can continue to have more practices like that," Carroll said.
Marshall trailed by double digits in the first half, but a quick five points from Omar Abdi in the final minute pulled the Tigers within 3 points, 29-26, going into the break. His six rebounds were also second on the team.
"We had a lot of things that needed to get cleaned up in the first half and it was good to see that we were able to regroup in the second," Carroll said.
From there, the Tigers dominated. They outscored Fairmont by 21 points in the second half. Abdi scored 10 points in both halves for a total of 20 on 50% shooting.
Salman Osman continued to show off his development as a playmaker. He led the Tigers with five assists and one turnover.
Andrew Elton led the Tigers' rebounding efforts with seven rebounds, including four on the offensive glass. His rebounding efforts often turned into offense, as he was Marshall's second-leading scorer with 11 points.
In the defensive post, Elton also blocked a shot.
The Tigers were able to create opportunities in transition by forcing turnovers and turning around quickly after rebounds to get on the fast break. The Tigers scored 21 points off turnovers on the night.
"We made a lot of defensive adjustments. We were giving up a lot of dribble drives in the first half where they were able to get to the rim and score. They were able to get post touches and we weren't helping away or off our man to look to help inside on the post. We weren't looking to dig from the wings as guys were looking to drive and defensively we really needed to change in the second half," Carroll said. "We got ourselves down 10, 12, whatever it may have been, and in the second half it was good to see us step up and defensively and create some offense with our defense."
The Tigers forced 19 Fairmont turnovers to nine Marshall turnovers. Abdi, Alex Franson, and Tyler Maeyaert led the way with three steals apiece while Osman and Jackson Baynard each grabbed another two.
Marshall sat all of its starters for the game's final two minutes.
Marshall (7-11) will go on the road to face off against St. Peter Friday at 7:15 p.m.