College of Marin Men's Basketball delivered their top performance of the year on Wednesday. The Mariners went toe to toe with the fifth ranked Yuba College 49ers and went down in the final seconds 93-91. Jalen Chandler and Alfonso Murrie carried the Mariners with 25 and 24 points respectively.
Marin trailed 91-77 with 3:28 left on the clock in the second half, but that did not stop them from a stirring rally. Julian Bryant railed a three pointer and followed with a layup and converted three point try. Bryant then found Alfonso Murrie in the paint for a layup to cut the lead to 91-85 with 59.5 seconds on the clock.
The Mariners executed some tremendous defense, forcing back to back turnovers on Yuba. Ghiden fed Murrie for a layup to cut the deficit to 91-87 before Jalen Chandler nailed a deep triple to cut the lead to one with under 40 seconds remaining. The Mariners played 25 seconds of good defense before Yuba converted a driving layup with 11 seconds left on the clock.
After a timeout the 49ers fouled Julian Bryant and prevented Marin from attempting a game tying three pointer. The freshman split free throws and Marin fouled down 93-91 with five seconds left.
Yuba missed the front end of their one and one and the Mariners did grab the rebound. As the clock ran down, Bryant found Chandler who took an open look from half court, but his shot hit the backboard and did not go down.
Despite the loss, it was the Mariners most complete game of the season. They played hard for all 40 minutes and had a chance to defeat a perennial state title contender.
The Mariners fell behind early in the first half but rallied to trail 49-47 at halftime.
Chandler led the Mariners with 25 points and 12 rebounds, while Murrie added 24 points and five boards. Bryant had 13 off the bench and added six boards and four assists as well.
Next up for Marin is a road game at Los Medanos College on Friday, February 7th. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30pm.
