HANCEVILLE, Ala.- After collecting a win in their last game at East Mississippi Community College, the Wallace State Lions returned home to take on the Marion Military Institute Tigers in Saturday afternoon hoops action. A late run by the Lions helped them take a double-digit lead into the locker room and quickly built on that lead to start out the second half. Marion Military went on a couple of runs to get back in the game, but Wallace State ended up pulling away late and went on to defeat the Tigers, 97-79.
Opening the game, Tyson Barrett banked in a hook shot to put the Lions on the scoreboard first. Then, Kylen Clark drained a three and Jaeden Rush put in a driving layup to give them an early 7-4 lead. A three-point play by Marion Military Institute tied the game up at seven, but a basket down low by Trey Knight and four straight points by Rush gave Wallace State a 13-7 lead. The Tigers went on an 8-0 run to take a 15-13 lead. A trey by Tony Wilson put the Lions ahead, 17-15 at the end of the first.Â
Later in the first half, the Tigers went on a 12-5 run to take a 27-24 lead with 7:30 remaining in the first half. Wallace State went on a run of their own behind the play of Viczavious Madden, as he scored their next nine points to give them the lead right back at 33-29. Knight buried a three, Madden added another basket down low, and Rush knocked down a three of his own to increase the Lion lead to 41-30 late in the first half. The Tigers cut it to 45-36, but Barrett put in a reverse layup to put Wallace State ahead, 47-36, at the half.
The Lions didn’t waste any time building on their lead to start out the second half, as Clark got red-hot from behind the three-point line, drilling a trio of treys to help widen their lead to 58-38 early in the second half. Austin Davenport knocked down a couple of baskets in the paint, and Knight drilled a short jumper to make it a 64-39 game. That’s when Marion Military Institute went on a huge run to get back in the game.
A 12-3 run by the Tigers cut the deficit to 16 at 67-51 and later made it a 69-55 contest. Davenport scored through a foul and ended up hitting the free throw to put the Lions ahead, 74-57. Six quick points by Marion Military Institute, though, cut it to 76-63. Davenport, Rush, and Madden went a combined 6/6 from the free throw line to give Wallace State an 82-68 lead. The Tigers drained a trey to swivel the deficit down to single digits at 82-73 with 4:50 remaining in the contest. Madden continued his strong play down low, knocking down another basket, and Knight knocked down a three from the right wing to push Wallace State’s lead back up to double digits at 87-73. Another three by Marion Military Institute cut it to 88-78, but the Lions wouldn’t get them get any closer after that, as a basket down low by Knight, a trey by Clark, and a driving layup by Rush put the finishing touches on a 97-79 win for Wallace State (8-8).
Madden led the way for the Lions with a game-high 26 points. Rush and Knight each ended up with 17 points. Clark posted 15 points, and Davenport finished with 13 points.
Wallace State will start conference play next Thursday night at Bishop State Community College.
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