Ball Bounces Marquette's Way in Win Over Eureka

January is commonly known among high school basketball circles as "the doldrums" of the season.  Players and coaches have been giving everything they have for almost three straight months with the light at the end of the tunnel still a little too distant to take a peek at.  The Marquette Mustangs have been battling this time of year like many other teams.  After two tough and disheartening losses last week, the men in Navy and Kelly have been busy digging themselves out of this state of unsteady play in an attempt to reach February basketball on somewhat of a roll.  Friday night saw the team defeat a plucky Howell squad and tonight, lady luck shone on the Mustangs to the tune of a 60-58 win over fellow Rockwood district school Eureka.

Senior guard Will Carpenter had one of his most productive games a couple of weeks ago in a road win at Washington.  Unfortunately, a couple of days later, Will rolled his ankle and has been gimpy ever since.  Tonight may have been the start of his comeback.  Will connected on a pull-up jumper to open the scoring for MHS and moments later followed that up with a long three-pointer to give his team a 5-4 lead.  Chad Haley followed up quickly with a jumper from the key area and the Mustangs seemed to be on their way with a 7-4 advantage.  At that point though, the turnover bug hit.  An inordinate number of traveling violations for this time of the year were committed by both teams.  By the time the quarter had ended, the Mustangs had turned the ball over an uncharacteristically-high eight times.  5/11 shooting was their only saving grace in trailing 17-13. 

After an early Haley trey in the second period, MHS came up empty three straight possessions before Chad hit again--this time on an offensive rebound, putback and subsequent free throw.  With the threat of Eureka opening up their lead to double-digits, Karlos Washington stepped up his game.  The senior guard thrice penetrated the Wildcat defense to score in quick succession (one of which was a gutsy three-point play in traffic).  At the half, the Mustangs trailed the visiting Wildcats 30-27.  Respectable Mustang shooting (10/22) was one of the only positive factors going into the locker room.  An MHS team that prided itself on its ballhandling had turned it over 10 times already in 16:00 of play and had shot only 4/8 from the charity stripe.

The Cats quickly converted inside to open the second half to extend the lead to five.  Karlos stepped up again though.  The 5-8 guard drove the lane for two and then stepped back the next time down the floor for a long three-pointer.  Down by only a couple, MHS seemed to be making its move.  Four straight misses though held back the charge before Washington nailed another jumper.  Andy Rosburg was able to convert off a nice feed from Carpenter before another rough stretch befell the home team.  Two turnovers and two missed shots later the Mustangs trailed by five once again.  Washington AGAIN answered the bell though with a three to end the quarter with a Mustang team out of sorts but still only trailing by two at 43-41.

The first five minutes of the fourth were the best of the contest for Marquette.  Will Carpenter opened the quarter with a three to bring the home crowd to its feet and give his team a 44-43 advantage.  After a Rosburg bucket, Washington free throw and another Carpenter trey, Marquette led it by seven and seemed well on its way to a relatively easy 14th win of the season.  Trailing and seeing less than three minutes on the clock, Eureka began to foul.  The strategy seemed to be futile as the Mustangs hit on seven consecutive tosses.  With a chance to go up ten, the eighth attempt went astray.  The planets seemed to align in Eureka's favor as five straight free throw attempts bounced off the rim for MHS and the Wildcats were able to convert on their own end each time to answer.  Finally with less than 10 seconds to play, Washington hit on his first free throw of two but missed on the second (Karlos finished with a career-high 22 points on the evening).  The Wildcats rushed the ball up the floor down only two.  As a loose ball went out of bounds in the Mustangs favor, time was called.  Marquette seemingly was able to get the ball safely in bounds and a victory looked to be all but assured.  The whistle had blown though and a five-second inbound violation had been called.  Eureka had one last gasp.  In what may have been the longest 4.8 seconds in basketball history to those associated with the home team, the Wildcats got a hurried shot off from 10 feet, an offensive board and miss from three feet and a last second tip-in attempt from point blank range which rolled around the bucket, rolled halfway around again and finally fell off the right side as the final buzzer sounded. 

A relieved Mustang squad left the floor with that 14th victory, equaling last season's total.  The next action for Marquette is this Friday back in conference play vs Mehlville.  Earlier this afternoon at Mehlville High School, city inspectors were getting set to make a decision as to whether the Mehlville gymnasium bleachers were safe for public use.  When that decision is made, the announcement will be made as to whether the game will be played as scheduled at Mehlville or moved to the Marquette Athletic Complex.  Either way, the game will tip off at 7pm. 

Leading Scorers:  Karlos Washington-22, Will Carpenter-11, Chad Haley-11, Andy Rosburg-11.  Leading Rebounders:  Rosburg-8, Haley-5.  Leading Assists:  Washington-3, Tom Ahlborn-2, Carpenter-2, Haley-2.  HARD HAT AWARD WINNER:  Karlos Washington. 

For complete game stats-click HERE

Posted by: marquettemustangs

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