Marin's first home game of 2020 came down to the wire, but they ended up on the wrong side by the narrowest of margins. The Mariners led the Los Medanos Mustangs 74-73 with 1:02 remaining in regulation but could not close out their BVC competitors from Pittsburg. Jalen Chandler led Marin with 25 points and Franco Barefield added 22 as their first win of 2020 slipped away late.
Los Medanos had possession with a minute left and converted a spinning layup in traffic to take a 75-74 lead. Marin's Alfonso Murrie was denied a point blank layup chance with 40 seconds which led to a pair of free throws for the Mustangs, extending their lead to 77-74 with under 30 seconds left. Barefield split free throws for Marin to pull within a pair but they could not force a turnover and Los Medanos ultimately won the foul game, and the real game by a score of 81-77.
It was a tightly contest affair throughout as neither team could really build much separate throughout the 40 minutes of competition. Marin led 16-14 early on before LMC took at 29-24 lead midway through the half. It was 32-31 Los Medanos with four minutes remaining before the Mustangs led 43-37 at the buzzer thanks to a half court heave that was ruled good.
The second half played out in similar manner as Marin trailed 52-47 with 13:28 left on the clock before they rallied back to take the lead with just over a minute remaining.
Chandler was excellent for the Mariners with 25 points on 9-17 shooting. He was 5-10 from distance and knocked down a pair of free throws as well. He added four rebounds two assists and block for good measure. Point Guard Franco Barefield also excelled with seven made field goals and seven made three throws. He chipped in with eight assists and a steal as well.
As a team the Mariners shot 47.4% from the floor and 40.9% from distance. Los Medanos was slightly better at 51.7% overall and 43.8% from distance.
The loss was the Mariners four of five tries in BVC Competition and put their overall record at 7-9 in the 2019-2020 season. Marin has a lone day of recovery before they take a local road trip to Fairfield to face the Solano College Falcons on Friday, January 10th.