Boys basketball: Tigers snap Willmar's streak
MARSHALL -- Things were going pretty well for the Willmar Cardinals until they came out of the halftime locker room.
An eight-point lead evaporated as the Marshall Tigers made a 12-2 run to start the half. They never lost the lead and won the matchup of Section 2AAA foes 62-55 on Thursday.
Fouls and turnovers were major contributors to the Willmar breakdown. The Tigers took full advantage of the gift shots, draining 21 of 27 (78 percent) in the final 18 minutes.
"They made some adjustments in their zone press and that caused some confusion," said Willmar head coach Steve Grove. "We didn't adjust to the way the refs were calling the game."
Willmar, seeing it's 7-game win streak ended, held a 34-26 lead at halftime.
Trailing 56-46, the Cardinals made a run on consecutive 3-pointers by Jimmy Unger, Dean Stier and Mo Mohamud, the last cutting the lead to one point, 56-55 with 1:30 left.
But more free throws built the Tigers lead back to three, 58-55. Willmar had a chance to tie in the last 30 seconds but several 3-point attempts failed.
Mohaumud scored 12 of his game-high 17 points in the first half then got in foul trouble minutes into the second half, joining other starter on the pines with foul problems.
Austin Rambow, Unger and Joe Leuze each finished with 10 points for Willmar (8-2), which is at St. Cloud Tech Thursday.
Marshall (8-6) got 15 points each from Lee Christianson, who was 10 of 11 at the line, and Tanner Butkowksi. He sank 3 three-pointers.
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Marshall 62, Willmar 55
Willmar (8-2) 34 21-- 55
Marshall (8-6) 26 36-- 62
WILLMAR - 16-35 FG (8-19 3-pt); 15-21 FT; 12 rebounds; 27 fouls ... Scoring: Dean Stier 3, Joe Leuze 10, Jimmy Unger 10, Matt Suedbeck 3, Jeremy Olson 2, Mo Mohamud 17, Austin Rambow 10 ... 3-point shots: Mohamud 3, Leuze 2, Stier 1, Unger 2 ... Rebound leaders: Lueze 3, Unger 3
MARSHALL - 15-38 FG (5-14 3-pt); 27-34 FT; 18 rebounds; 210 fouls ... Scoring: Aaron Mathiowetz 9, Mason Schnaible 9, Hunter Peterson 5, Shawn Tykwinsk 4, Lee Christianson 15, Tyler DeBoer 5, Tanner Butkowski 15 ... 3-point shots: Peterson 1, Butkowski 3, Christianson...
