Photo by Kim Nelson Marshall guard Alex Franson shoots a layup in traffic during a boys basketball game against Worthington in Marshall on Friday night. The Trojans beat the Tigers 78-73.

MARSHALL —  On a bitterly cold night, the Marshall Tigers played host to the Worthington Trojans in a conference game with each team looking to improve their standing. Marshall had won the previous contest on the road, and the Trojans were looking to return the favor by getting a road victory. Marshall is 1-4 in the conference, and Worthington is 1-2, so this was an important game for both teams to move up in the conference standings. The game started with Worthington taking an early lead, and Marshall had trouble on offense, and fell behind 40-29 at the half.

But the Tigers staged a great second-half rally, eventually taking the lead late in the game. But the Trojans made some clutch plays down the stretch and came away with a 78-73 victory. Worthington opened up the scoring, getting balanced scoring from their starting lineup. Jacari Swinea and Zach Hayenga led the way, with 12 and 11 points respectively. Kaleb Knothe had nine, including a 3-pointer, and Andrew Mulder also had a long-range bomb to add to his first-half total of 8 points.

For the Tigers, they had balanced scoring but the shots weren’t falling, as they fell behind by a score of 16-8. With five minutes to go, they trailed 28-18. They were able to match Worthington the rest of the first half, with Cooper Mensink leading the way with 9 points., including two 3-pointers. Jackson Baynard drilled two long-range shots, and Braxton Koster added another. Alex Franson and Jack Meier each had two field goals, but the Tigers saw themselves trailing 40-29.

The second half saw the Tigers start to chip away at the deficit, scoring the first 4 points. Hayenga and Swinea had an answer for the comeback with some 3-pointers of their own, but Cooper Mensink, Braeden Myhre and Jack Meier each had two field goals, as Marshall wouldn’t give up, and made the score 48-44. The teams traded baskets and, with a little over six minutes to go, the Tigers were only down 60-57.

With four minutes to go in the game, two Alex Franson free throws brought Marshall within one, trailing 66-65. But Zach Hayenga drained a huge 3-pointer with just under three minutes to go. Alex Franson then had a steal and was able to convert a 3-point play to give the Tigers their first lead, 68-66. Then Hayenga drilled another 3 to give the Trojans the lead at 69-68, with 2:40 to go in the game. Mensink got a rebound basket to make the score 71-70, with the Trojans clinging to a 1-point lead. Swinea then converted a 3-point play to put the Trojans back up 74-71, with a little over a minute to go. After a missed shot, Worthington got the rebound and Swinea scored again to make it 76-71. Marshall made two out of four free throws, but Hayenga was fouled with three seconds to go, and he converted both free throws to make the final score 78-73.

For Worthington, all of their scoring came from their starting five. Jacari Swinea was the game’s high scorer, with 22 points, followed closely by Zach Hayenga with 21. Kaleb Knothe had 18 points, and Andrew Mulder ended the night with 15 points.

The Tigers had four players in double figures, led by Cooper Mensink with 18, including three long-range shots. Alex Franson finished with 16, with two three-point shots. Braxton Koster and Jack Meier each had 10 points off the bench, and Jackson Baynard added 7.

“It was a tough loss, but we competed well, even when were down,” Mensink said “We didn’t hang our heads, and we were able to make a good comeback. We made a couple of mistakes late in the game, and that cost us. They made shots down the stretch, so give credit to them. But we will learn from this, and keep our heads up.”

Worthington Head Coach Clint Meyer was proud of his team’s efforts, saying “We knew, coming here to Marshall, that Travis (Carroll) would have his team prepared for a tough game, and they would give us everything they have. We were able to make some plays down the stretch, but they didn’t give up and they kept coming at us. Our guys stepped up at the end, and we played through some miscues in the second half to get them back in the game. But we made enough plays to come out with a win. This is always a tough place to play, and we are happy with a victory. We knew they would play the full 36 minutes, and we were able to beat a well-coached team.”

“We had a tough first half, and that made it hard to come back.”, Marshall Head Coach Travis Carroll said. “It made it a challenge, but we battled the second half and we made a nice run to take the lead late. But we needed to execute better at the end of the game, and we couldn’t quite overcome some turnovers and missed shots. It was a tough loss, but the kids made some improvements from where they were, and we will continue to try to get better.”

Worthington now improves to 8-4 overall, and 2-2 in the conference. Marshall falls to 7-8 on the season and is now 1-5 in the conference.