College of Marin Men's Basketball hosted the Yuba College 49ers on Wednesday evening. It was a hard fought game on both sides, but in the end the numbers and physicality of Yuba was too much for the Mariners who ultimately fell 84-69. Marin dressed just eight players on the evening and the wear and tear began to show in the second half. Derek Morgan led the game with 20 points while Eric Mireri chipped in 16 of his own for Marin.
The visiting 49ers started the game with seven consecutive points but Marin pulled within three at 12-9 as Mireri converted a three point play with 13:05 remaining. Yuba extended their lead to 26-18 but a Marin answered with a run capped by a layup by Garrick Sherrod to bring the score to 29-25 Yuba with three minutes to go. At that point, Yuba proceeded to score eight straight to extend their lead to 37-25 at halftime.
The second half was played evenly for the most part, but Marin was unable to make any real headway against the scoring margin. Yuba led by 19 points, 67-48 before the Mariners cut it to 15 on several occasions. They could get no closer however, as Yuba left the gym with an 84-69 victory.
Morgan was a huge factor in the second half, scoring 18 of his 20 points, but it was not enough for the Mariners. Mireri was the picture of consistency, scoring eight points in each half while five other players scored between six and eight points for Marin. Yuba spread out their scoring across their entire team, as four different players posted double digit scoring.
Marin has a day off before traveling to Contra Costa College on Friday, February 9th.