The Marshals are in Orlando this week playing in The Grind Session’s Amusement Park Classic. Monday they beat Bishop Snyder, FL, 62-55 behind a 23-point game from Aaron Reed who was selected game MVP. Matt French added 10 points for the Marshals. Bishop Snyder’s Corey Walker scored 31 points with 15 rebounds.
Tuesday, against DME Academy, FL, the Marshals fell 53-49, playing most of the game without Reed who was nursing an injury. The Marshals trailed 25-24 at halftime and tied DME at 39 at the end of the third quarter. DME out-scored the Marshals 14-10 in the fourth quarter for the 53-49 win with six lead changes and five ties throughout. Tyler Powell led in scoring with 20 points, French followed that up with 18 points.
“We played a good team”, Head Coach Terry Birdsong said. “It seemed like we were sloppy tonight. Got down 5-0 and gave up a wide open three to start the game. Four seniors on the floor…that should never happen. You got to be ready to play.”
Birdsong said it felt like they were one to two points behind the entire game and was disappointed in how they didn’t pressure #14, who could only shoot, trying different players on him saying, “He made shots when he shouldn’t have.”
“I thought the guys effort was good”, Birdsong said. “One of the things I told them after the game…we give up too easy. We have to do better. These kids have come a long way to what we want…man to man defense…but we still get beat off the dribble too much.”
Playing a prep school with players from all over the world, Birdsong thought the effort was good, but with a few mental breakdowns which could be part fatigue and part not being as aggressive as they need to be defensively but felt the team got better from the game which comes from playing tough opponents.
The Marshals will play their final game in Orlando on Wednesday at 1:45 (EST) against Inspire Prep, FL. Inspire Prep beat The Rock, FL, Monday 65-64, led by Raymond Dieng with 18 points and 10 rebounds and 6’11” Emmanuel Ndatuje with 15 points.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | Final | |
| Marshall | 9 | 24 | 39 | 49 |
| DME | 13 | 25 | 39 | 53 |
Marshall: Powell 20, French 18, Smith 7, Nichols 2, Riley 2
DME: Blancas 14, Vukojcic 13, Harvey 8, Calderon 8, Clanet 5, Davis 5