Mariners Men's Basketball recorded their second home win of the year on Wednesday with a nail-biting victory over the Falcons of Folsom Lake. Marin led 74-71 with under 20 seconds left, but Folsom Lake had the ball with a chance to tie the game. Tight defense forced the Falcon's shooter to step out of bounds and turn the ball over to the Mariners. Franco Barefield nailed a pair of free throws to clinch a 76-73 victory. It was a true team effort as six players scored seven or more points led by Jalen Chandler's 23.
The Mariners feasted inside to start the game. Sophomore Ethan Battistini was a force in the post with eight early points to help Marin to a slim 15-14 lead after eight minutes of play. Folsom Lake went on a mini run to take a 22-19 lead before Jalen Chandler railed a three pointer to tie the game up. The game went back and forth down to the final minute. The Falcons held a 40-37 lead before Marin's Alfonso Murrie made back to back driving layups to give the Mariners a one-point lead 41-40 at halftime.
The second half saw Folsom Lake jump out to a lead before Chandler brought the Mariners back yet again. He hit a step back jumper from the right wing to tie the game up at 53-53 with 13:30 left in regulation. The teams continued to exchange the lead until the final minutes. Malik Ghiden's pump fake with 56 seconds left put the sophomore at the line. He split free throws to build the Mariners' advantage to six points, 71-65.
Folsom Lake responded with a three pointer and then fouled Franco Barefield. The point guard made both his free throws and the Falcons made another triple to cut the lead to 73-71. They fouled Barefield again and after splitting free throws Folsom Lake regained the ball, down 74-71.
The Mariners knocked the ball out of play with 8.6 seconds as the Falcons took the ball out from the baseline. They threw a successful pass to the corner, but the potential shooter took a negative step out of bounds to turn the ball over and effectively end the game.
Chandler scored 23 points on 10-14 shooting. He added six rebounds, an assist, a block, and a steal. Murrie was second on the team with 13 points and led the Mariners with seven rebounds. Battistini had ten points and six boards while Barefield added 11 points, four rebounds and four assists.
The win was the Mariners' third in six games this year. They host the Feather River Golden Eagles on Tuesday, November 26th at 6pm.
