Mariners Men's Basketball has endured a number of heartbreaking defeats in the 2019-2020. On Friday evening in Pittsburg, Marin finally enjoyed a thrilling victory in the final moments. With under 10 seconds remaining, Julian Bryant stumbled at the top of the key and managed to shuffle the ball to Franco Barefield on the left wing. The sophomore point guard drove the lane and scored an acrobatic layup with just two seconds remaining. Los Medanos got a final look at the buzzer but it fortunately rimmed out as the Mariners enjoyed a 76-75 win. It was a balanced attack for Marin with five players recording double digit points.
The Mariners led early on 13-12 before the Mustangs responded with a big run to go ahead 29-18 midway through the half. Marin battled back to make the score 41-35 in the final minutes and went to the locker room trailing 47-39.
Marin started the second half on an 8-0 run to draw even at 47-47. Los Medanos retook the lead at 57-55, before Malik Ghiden tied the game up at 57 with a midrange jumper. The Mariners forced a stop and Barefield earned a trip to the foul line where he put Marin in the lead 59-57. The game continued to see saw back and forth, but a series of poor shots by the Mariners allowed Los Medanos to build a 70-65 lead with under five minutes remaining.
Ghiden knocked down a corner three pointer to cut the lead to 70-68 and Marin tied it up at 70-70 and again at 72-72. Bryant put Marin in the lead with a cutting layup with 1:34 left on the clock before Los Medanos responded with a step back three pointer to take a 75-74 lead with under a minute. Both teams traded scoreless possessions before Barefield delivered the game winning layup.
Barefield and Jalen Chandler led the Mariners with 14 points each. Barefield had five rebounds, five assists and a pair of steals while Chandler had a game high 13 rebounds. Alfonso Murrie added 11 points, five rebounds and five assists while Bryant had 13 points off the bench.
The victory pushed the Mariners record to 12-12 on the year and 6-7 in the Bay Valley Conference. Marin has three games remaining in the 2019-2020 season. Next up is a home game against the Solano College Falcons at 5:30pm on Wednesday, February 12th.