Mustangs Open 06-07 With Fourth Quarter Bang

Today's high-noon tip-off at the Marquette Athletic Complex had more than just a little strange feel to it.  For starters, the game had been scheduled two days prior, but the rare ice/snow storm that hit the St. Louis metro area forced the move to today.  With the roads in the shape they were, the Mustangs were put on the sidelines with no practices being able to be held either Thursday or Friday.  The Lions from Northwest came to the MAC as a first in and of themselves....no Mustang team had ever opened up with a Suburban West Conference game.  Finally, with delilvery of new white uniforms still in transit, the Mustangs took to the floor as a pseudo-road team in their navy road jerseys against the white-clad Lions.  All the above factored into what was an entertaining game for the fans in attendance as Marquette rode a strong fourth quarter to a 69-55 victory.

Senior Will Carpenter got things going for MHS.  After Andy Rosburg won the opening tip, the Mustangs worked the ball to the 6-0 senior guard.  Will rattled in a 20-footer to give his team an opening 3-0 margin.  Northwest answered with consecutive buckets of their own before the Mustangs answered.  By the time Marquette had knocked down consecutive shots from inside the stripe by Rosburg and two from Tom Ahlborn, the Lions were slightly on their heels.  Karlos Washington ran down an offensive rebound and Marquette took advantage by burying the second-chance shot (another three by Carpenter).  After a turnover (only one of two in the first half and a paltry nine for the game), the men in Navy and Kelly went back to work.  A three by Washington was followed by buckets by Rosburg, Washington again and Eric Phillips to extend the lead out to 24-16 at the end of a quarter. 

As quickly as the Mustangs got hot, they cooled off just as fast.  Four missed shots to open up the second followed by the half's second ballhandling miscue turned what was a game in Marquette's control to a nip-and-tuck affair.  With the lead see-sawing back and forth, the Mustangs knocked down a couple of nice entries into the lane by Rosburg and Carpenter to give themselves a three-point lead.  The Lions nailed their last two shots of the half though to go in on a high leading 31-30.  While losing the lead wasn't a positive, a look at the stat sheet brought a light to the affair.  Northwest entered the locker room shooting an incredible 78% from the field after 16:00 of play and looking to, as a senior-laden team, build on their impressive season-opening win at Sullivan earlier in the week.

Northwest capitalized on their momentum to open the second half.  They hit their first two tries (a trey and a two) to extend the lead to their biggest advantage (6).  For the next several minutes, the Mustangs slowly but surely worked their way back into the contest.  Tom Ahlborn made his presence and senior leadership felt by nailing two running jumpers in a row and he was followed up by a nice fake and drive pull-up by junior guard Chad Haley.  The Lions clung to a slim margin until the final minute-and-a-half when Ahlborn free throws gave the Mustangs their first lead of the quarter.  Will Carpenter stepped up big in the stanza as well nailing two of his four game three-pointers in what ended as a 49-49 deadlock after the buzzer.

The fourth quarter couldn't have begun much better for Marquette.  A three-pointer by Karlos Washington (who took a month's worth of collisions on the hardwood for a normal player) started a streak that looked like this for MHS:  Washington three-pointer, two free throws by Rosburg, another jumper by Washington, two more free throws by Rosburg and a fifth free throw by Rosburg that came about after three shot attempts and two offensive boards on the possession.  The fourth was dominated by Mustang trips to the charity stripe.  The squad converted on 15/16 from the line to ice the game.  Rosburg hit on 7/8 and Ahlborn was even better at 6/6.  Along with the aforementioned free throw prowess and lack of turnovers, maybe the most interesting statistic to give a story to the game was in the rebounding department.  While the 6-6 junior Andy Rosburg led the team with nine caroms, 5-10 senior point guard Karlos Washington tracked down an amazing and career-high eight boards.

The Mustangs take to the road for the Northwest Tournament beginning Monday, December 4.  The first round matchup pits Wentzville Holt against MHS for a 5:30 tip-off.

Leading Scorers:  Andy Rosburg-18, Tom Ahlborn-17, Will Carpenter-14 and Karlos Washington-12.  Leading Rebounders:  Rosburg-9, Washington-8.  Leading Assists:  Washington-5, Ahlborn-3, Carpenter-3.  HARD HAT AWARD WINNER:  Karlos Washington.

For complete stats, click HERE

Posted by: marquettemustangs

Email   |   Print

Avg. Rating: (0/10 | 0 Votes)