Persistent Mustangs Win at Oakville

Riding a two-game losing streak regular season-wise and a five-game winless streak in conference play, Marquette needed to come away from tonight's game at SWC foe Oakville with a positive.  Snapping both losing streaks on the strength of a great fourth quarter did the trick in a game that went down to the final ticks resulting in a 42-40 Mustang victory.

The opening minutes of play proved to be sketchy for both teams.  After a miss on either end, Oakville was able to convert off an offensive rebound.  Chad Haley answered with a jumper and moments later hit a three-pointer after grabbing an offensive carom on the same possession.  The junior guard was part of two statistical anomolies in the first half.  Chad's offensive board proved to be the only one of the opening 16:00 of play for MHS.  Also, his play on the scoring end helped keep the Mustangs afloat.  When the half ended, the Mustangs had racked up only seven made field goals.  Chad's four makes (a couple of treys and two-pointers apiece) accounted for his ten points on the night and almost half of the team's offensive output. 

Andy Rosburg followed Chad's three-pointer with a tough move on the baseline to give Marquette a 7-4 advantage.  0/5 shooting soon followed though before a Will Jones jumper at the free throw line brought the Mustangs back to within two at 11-9, a score that would stand until the end of the first quarter.

Karlos Washington opened up the second quarter with a three-pointer to put his team out in front before the Tigers answered from behind the arc as well.  Another Haley jumper, this one from just under the top of the key tied the game at 14-all.  After Chad connected from 21 feet from the left wing to give MHS a 17-14 lead, the Mustangs could not convert another field goal try.  Fortunately, Rosburg was able to nail all four free throw tries he had down the stretch to keep the Mustangs close and insure a 21-21 tie going into the half.  Two key statistics stood out for Marquette at the half.  On the good side of the ledger, the Mustangs committed only a single turnover.  On the bad though, they weren't able to generate any easy points as evidenced by their zero steals and one offensive board.

The third quarter soon became a situation where the words "Uh, oh, here we go again" had to be coursing through the visitors' heads.  An offensive board to begin the half perked up the MHS bench but two misses on the same possession were the end result.  With Oakville ahead 25-21, Rosburg hit on his fifth and sixth attempts from the charity stripe.  Those two points were all Marquette was able to chalk up during the first five minutes of the second half.  Four turnovers and 0/5 shooting were enough to help Oakville stretch their lead to 32-23.  A Tom Ahlborn jumper stopped the bleeding but not before the Tigers were once again able to extend out to a nine-point advantage at 34-25.  A late Eric Phillips steal and lay-in ended the third with the hosts up 34-27. 

The team that looked lost in almost trailing by double-digits were transformed coming out of the between-periods huddle.  Will Carpenter, as he has been able to do so many times this season, gave his team a lift.  A long three from the right wing made the score 34-30.  Karlos Washington answered 30 seconds later with a trey from the head of the key to make it 34-33 (all within the first minute or so of the final period).  Ahlborn struck with a pull-up jumper to give MHS the lead before the Tigers were able to answer with a bucket of their own to regain the advantage.  Being unable to crack the tight, packed-in Oakville defense had been a major disadvantage for the Mustangs all game long.  Carpenter made short work of the problem though by driving along the right baseline and working his way past two of the Tigers to convert a tough lay-in to once again give his team the lead.  The only problem was that Will had landed on the ankle he had injured about four weeks ago.  The extent of the injury is still up in the air but it was enough to knock him out of this evening's game. 

Enter Eric Phillips though who continued to bring much-needed energy to a team that had been in a two-week funk.  Heading up the pressure defense the Mustangs were employing, Eric was able to steer the ball towards Washington who stole the ball and took it all the way to the hoop for a 39-38 Mustang lead.  After four straight misses though, Oakville finally took advantage.  A couple of Tiger free throws gave them a 40-39 lead with just under two minutes to play.  At that point, Ahlborn followed Carpenter's lead by driving through the heart of the Oakville defense to draw a foul.  Tom was able to convert on 1/2 from the line and the game was tied. 

After Oakville was unable to convert on two free throws, the Mustangs found themselves with the ball in a tie game with 1:30 to go.  Carefully handling the basketball, Marquette worked the clock down.  With 0:17 left to go on the clock, MHS began their final push.  (Setting the situation....with Will Carpenter out, Eric Phillips was on the floor handling the game at hand as if he'd done it all his life.  Also, with just under 2:00 to play, starting point guard Karlos Washington had to exit the game with a bloody nose.  Thus, junior guard Chris Rosehill entered the game cold off the bench for the most pressure-filled situation he had faced in his short varsity career.)  Tom Ahlborn brought the ball to the right wing and found Chris Rosehill open.  Giving the baseline one look with a Tiger in his face, Chris calmly found Andy Rosburg who had moved off a screen to the basket, just inside the right block.  Andy was able to spin and just lay in the ball as the clock ticked down to 0:01 on the clock.  The Tigers called time-out but were unable to convert on the long try and the Mustangs had prevailed in a tight contest.

The next action for Marquette involved Senior Night at the Marquette Athletic Complex.  The opponent is the previously-#1 ranked team in Missouri....the Statesmen of Webster Groves.  The teams will tip off around 7pm after a ceremony to honor the four seniors who will play in their final game at the MAC.

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

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Posted by: marquettemustangs

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