Marquette Makes it Two Out of Three at Northwest Invitational

2004 saw a talented Mustang squad open the season in the inaugural Northwest (Cedar Hill) Tournament and take home a title with a victory over Cape Girardeau Central in the finals.  A year later, the Mustangs returned to the title game only to fall in a barn-burner against the Ben Hansbrough-led defending state champ Poplar Bluff Mules.  After settling for the runner-up trophy a year ago, the current edition of the Mustangs returned to their perch as the champs at Northwest by defeating Springfield Hillcrest 51-42.

Most teams that find a nice flow during a game gradually build to that level throughout a contest.  This game tonight was a rarity though that saw the Mustangs enjoy their most evenly-played segment of the game early.  After a turnover on the first possession, Marquette enjoyed one of its most efficient stretches of the season.  A Will Carpenter trey kicked off what became eight consecutive trips down the floor that produced points.  A nifty post move by forward Andy Rosburg was followed by pull-up jumpers sandwiched around a three by guard Tom Ahlborn.  The Ahlborn three-pointer gave MHS a 10-0 lead which it maintained (in the neighborhood of) most of the rest of the game.  Ahlborn and Rosburg converted again out of the time-out before Chad Haley knocked down a tough inside conversion off of consecutive offensive boards.  Hillcrest (appearing in the tournament field for the first time and having beaten Eureka and Northwest earlier in the week) regained their composure in time to pull to within six at 17-11 after a quarter.

By the time the half-time buzzer sounded, the Mustangs had found a way to stretch a six-point lead to eight (26-18).  Oddly enough, after knocking down seven field goals in the opening quarter, Marquette managed to hit on only five more attempts the rest of the night.  Getting into the bonus free throw situation had been key all week in the tournament for MHS and it proved to be even more so in this game.  Rosburg hit on a turnaround jumper to open the second frame and the team would go 0/6 from the field the rest of the half.  Fortunately, a 7/10 performance from the charity stripe was enough to take the eight-point bulge into the locker room.

After the scoring barrage to open the game, both teams settled into a "feeling-out" third period.  With neither team able to knock down shots consistently, Hillcrest managed to pull within six at 33-27 heading into the final quarter.  With the lead for Marquette shifting from six to ten tallies most of the quarter and the team stuck on only three shots made in the second half, Chad Haley stepped up big.  Trying to penetrate the Hillcrest defense, Chad zipped a threaded needle past three Hornets to Tom Ahlborn at the basket who knocked down the easy lay-in to give his team an eight-point lead and breathing room to spare with just over 2:00 to play.  While the Mustangs weren't as efficient as they had shown in previous games, a 14/22 performance from the free throw line in the last quarter was enough to propel the squad to a 51-42 win and yet another Northwest Tournament title.

For the champs, three players were named All-Tournament.  Guard Karlos Washington made his first all-tourney field.  Andy Rosburg was named to the All-Northwest team for the second straight year.  Also making the squad again was senior guard Tom Ahlborn.  Tom had one of the more prolific performances in the history of the event with 72 points over the three games.

Marquette keeps the schedule on the road this Tuesday night (December 12) at Parkway Central with a 7pm tip-off.

Leading Scorers:  Tom Ahlborn-23, Andy Rosburg-10, Will Carpenter-8.  Leading Rebounders:  Carpenter-5, Chad Haley-5, Rosburg-5.  Leading Assists:  Carpenter-3, Karlos Washington-2, Ahlborn-2.  HARD HAT AWARD WINNER:  Andy Rosburg. 

For complete game stats-click HERE

Posted by: marquettemustangs

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