“I had a mismatch, so I [went up] and scored on it,” Voigt said regarding what he saw on the final possession. “We haven’t beaten them [JCC] in a couple years, so it was good to beat them … We were all just working together, and not losing what we have.”

The score became tied at 60 with 2:22 to play after JCC went on a 7-0 run as Marshall had a 60-53 lead a minute and a half earlier.

The Tigers and Huskies went scoreless on their next plays, running down the clock to 37.1 seconds after JCC missed a 3-point attempt. The Huskies held possession after the shot as the ball hit off Marshall out of bounds, but the Tigers’ defense came up big when they needed it most, forcing a five-second violation on the inbound.

The difference between game clock and shot clock was about one second in Marshall’s final possession. After holding the ball up behind the left wing to bring the clock down to around eight seconds, Voigt came up from down low and got the ball near the elbow, took a dribble inside and lifted up over his defender to sink the shot and send the Tigers to victory.

Marshall's Oliver Voigt steps back after hitting the game-winning shot while watching the time expire.

“We kind of cleared out and tried to get the ball towards paint and get a shot up. Jackson County central defended pretty well, they did a good job of keeping [us] out of the paint, and it was a tough shot,” Marshall head coach Travis Carroll said of the final play. “It’s good to get that one to fall in, because the kids have been working hard. We’ve had some tough games as of late, and it was good to be on the on the other side of a close game.”

JCC made a habit the entire night to double or triple-team Voigt when he would get near the baseline, forcing Marshall to move the ball and find other open looks. Voigt credited his team for sticking together and working through their offense when the Huskies were eliminating some looks.

“We still have a lot to improve on [with] the details of what we’re trying to do offensively, the details what we’re trying to do defensively, and the details of end-of-game situations and executing better,” Carroll said. “Because, up until that last possession, we didn’t have a real strong last three minutes leading, but it was good to end better.”

Davion Xayarath had a strong pull-up jumper throughout the night, who tied the score at 35 to open the second half with back-to-back shots. JCC had a 32-31 halftime lead.

Noah Pieper hit a pair of free throws after JCC’s Carter Buhl was assessed a technical foul for a 45-40 lead with just over 10 minutes to go, as Marshall’s speed began to catch up with the Huskies.

Marshall's Patrick Morman begins to drive toward the basket in the first half against Jackson County Central Saturday night.

The Tigers beat the Huskies in transition or on offense with their ball movement to put together a series of good looks.

“That’s one of our strengths, [our speed]. We’re continuing to learn as to how to work with that strength and looking to push in transition, value the basketball and share the basketball,” Carroll said. “Those are things that we need to continue to work on, and that’s good for our kids. Our kids like to hear things like that, to play faster and try to attack. That’s something that they look forward to.”

JCC took a 50-47 lead with 7:30 left after two straight 3-pointers, yet a Pieper driving layup down the middle, a Voigt defensive rebound and Carson Mensink 3 put Marshall right back in front, 52-50.

The two continued to fight off one another, leading up to the final possession.

Pieper led the Tigers with 18 points, while Voigt followed with 15 behind 3 for 5 shooting from deep. Him and Patrick Morman shared a team-high 8 rebounds, while Andrew Lee led with four assists.

Marshall's Aiden Bly (21) makes a pass to a running Brody Riess for a fastbreak layup in the first half.

Marshall’s unselfish play was also a difference maker down the stretch with 10 assists to JCC’s two. The Huskies on the other hand grabbed seven steals to the Tigers’ three.

JCC senior Weston Rowe, 6-foot-7, presented an early threat to Marshall as the Huskies continued to look at him inside the paint. Sullivan Hall, 6-foot-10, also added the JCC’s height and was a force on the glass alongside Rowe.

Rowe led all scorers with 20 points.

“One of the things we tried to focus on tonight was, when we get a rebound, look at attack and transition. We were able to wear them [JCC] down a little bit more in the second half, and we’re able to get some good looks in transition. With their size … You really don’t want to walk the ball down the floor and get into an offense. You want to try to attack, beat those guys down the floor, get some looks in transition. The only way you do that is get stops on defense and rebound.”

The Tigers finished with 49 rebounds to the Huskies’ 36.

Marshall's Brody Riess (33) and Oliver Voigt (back) work to block Jackson County Central's Weston Rowe, the Huskies' leading scorer.

Marshall built a 23-14 lead in the first half following back-to-back 3-pointers from Voigt. JCC spent time playing in a zone defense, forcing a few Tiger turnovers, as the Huskies responded on a 6-0 run to cut into a 23-20 deficit.

The Tigers and Huskies traded several late leads in the final two minutes of the half, with JCC holding the slight 1-point edge heading into the locker room.

Marshall and JCC were locked in with one another on the shooting end throughout the night. The Tigers finished with 45% field-goal shooting, 35% from the perimeter and 5 for 5 at the charity stripe. The Huskies shot 47% in the field, 40% at 3 and went 4 of 7 from the line.

The Tigers entered the weekend looking to get back on track after coming off a pair of nailbiting losses; 53-52 to Delano and 69-63 to Waseca last Friday. Marshall started the season winning its first three straight prior.

Marshall (5-2) will face another ranked opponent against Class 2A No. 3 Belle Plaine on the second day of the holiday tournament on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. back in Southwest Minnesota State University’s R/A Facility.

Marshall's Davion Xayarath (31) lifts up over his defenders for a shot in the second half against Jackson County Central.