Draining Battle Leaves Mustangs Just Short vs Lindbergh

A lot was on the line tonight at the Marquette Athletic Complex.  With just three more league games remaining and already sporting a 4-0 record within the conference, Lindbergh was a target that had few shots left at it.  Also, with only a loss to Lafayette thus far, the Mustangs knew defending their undefeated record at the MAC was a must to realistically have a shot at the conference crown.  After being up, down and then up again, Marquette fell down just one more time as time expired without a chance to rise again, losing to the Flyers 48-45.

Early on, the Mustangs made things look easy.  D'Angelo Wood (starting in place of the injured Will Carpenter) knocked down a three from the left wing and followed that up shortly with a drive through traffic and a strong lay-up to give his team a 5-4 lead.  Chad Haley and Tom Ahlborn would carry the scoring burden the rest of the period.  Haley hit on a runner through the lane to go along with a tough jumper late and Ahlborn connected from long-distance and mid-range.  After eight minutes of play things seemed to be in the Mustangs' hands as far as the tempo of play stood and they led it 16-10. 

The first six trips down the floor in the second proved though that Lindbergh would not lay down in this all-important SWC contest.  The Flyers took advantage of a Mustang defense depleted size-wise by the aforementioned absence of Carpenter and the second foul and trip to the bench by the 6-6 Andy Rosburg.  Karlos Washington was able to weave his way through traffic for a lay-in to go along with a single free throw by Rick Skalski off an offensive board underneath amongst the hands and arms.  With the Flyers pulling even, Marquette answered though.  Jumpers from Washington and two by Ahlborn on three consecutive trips extended the Mustang lead to 25-16 with just over 2:00 left in the half.  Lindbergh was able to exploit the middle of the Mustang defense for easy lay-ins or kick-outs to shooters and as time expired with a Flyer lay-up, Lindbergh had gone on a 10-0 run to lead 26-16 after two quarters.

The third quarter featured a charged-up Lindbergh defense that seemed to wilt the Mustang charge.  After an early Ahlborn jumper to pull his team to within one, the well seemingly went dry for the home team.  The next four trips down the floor resulted in four misses.  Meanwhile, on their end, the Flyers were able to take over on the offensive boards and run down balls past the suddenly slow-footed Mustangs.  With a nine-point lead and just under three minutes to play in the period though, Marquette found new life.  Ahlborn over the course of the last four possessions was able to find his way to the line three times and shoot a perfect 6/6 over that span.  Coupled with a Chad Haley three-pointer with under a minute to play, MHS had arisen from the dead to trail only 38-36 entering the final 8:00 of play.

The first possession saw Haley try a three-pointer, Ahlborn follow up with an attempt and after Karlos Washington came out of the pack with an offensive board he pitched it back to Haley who converted on the third try from behind the arc to give the hosts a 39-38 lead.  The Flyer point guard Williams though answered back with a trey of his own and the game ahd taken on new life with both teams pushing toward the finish.  (Williams would hit on four of his five threes over the course of the second half to finish with a clutch 17 points to lead his team.)

With just over 1:30 to play, the Mustangs trailed by a single point.  After an Ahlborn miss from the free throw line, Rosburg came down with his third offensive board of the night (Andy had a game-high 11 total on the evening) and was fouled going to the hoop.  The junior forward came through in the clutch by hitting on both attempts at the one-and-one to give his team a 45-44 lead.  Needing to get one stop to put the pressure on Lindbergh to foul, the Mustangs came up short.  Quick ball movement in and out of the lane by the senior-laden team found Williams again at the right wing.  The all-conference guard buried his fifth three-pointer of the night to put his team up two.  After a Mustang turnover along the baseline amidst heavy contact, Lindbergh was able to hit on a single free throw before a good look at a three-pointer by the Mustangs rattled in and out to tie. 

Marquette finds itself in no position to cry over spilled milk.  The schedule steers them down Kehrs Mill to Clayton Road east to take on long-time foe Parkway West tomorrow, Wednesday, January 17 for a 7pm tip-off versus the Longhorns.

Leading Scorers:  Tom Ahlborn-19, Chad Haley-10.  Leading Assists:  Karlos Washington-2.  Leading Rebounders:  Andy Rosburg-11, Washington-4, Haley-4. 

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Posted by: marquettemustangs

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