Game Report: Fort Wayne Northrop 71 Marion 63

<p>Marion comes into this one with a 6-7 record and back-to-back conference wins over Lafayette Jeff and Logansport. Marion is led by their trio of Cubie Jones (Senior), [player_tooltip player_id="1158191" first="Taden" last="Metzger"] (Sophomore), and [player_tooltip player_id="1297057" first="Jaymen" last="Townsend"] (Freshman) who all average double figures. Fort Wayne Northrop comes into this one with an 8-8 record and a 13-point loss to #12 Homestead on Friday night. They are led by [player_tooltip player_id="870219" first="Jalen" last="Jackson"], the UIC commit, who is averaging over 30 points per game this season, but he is coming off of a 5-point performance on Friday in the loss to Homestead. He was looking to bounce back tonight.</p> <p>In the first quarter, it was a back and forth affair for almost the entire quarter. Both teams were looking to push the tempo, and it seemed like both teams were able to have an answer for the other whenever a bucket was scored. Fort Wayne Northrop was led by [player_tooltip player_id="870219" first="Jalen" last="Jackson"] with 8 points, and [player_tooltip player_id="1049189" first="James" last="Mallory"] scored 4 off the bench with a couple of good post moves inside. For Marion, [player_tooltip player_id="1297057" first="Jaymen" last="Townsend"] led with 5 points, and [player_tooltip player_id="1158191" first="Taden" last="Metzger"] and David Jones added 4 in a pretty evenly split quarter for the Giants. Marion led 19-18 after one.</p> <p>In the second quarter, we saw more of the same from both teams. For Marion, they continued to share the ball well and get open looks around the rim and on the outside. However, 11 first-half turnovers and 8 steals by Northrop led to easy run outs for Northrop. [player_tooltip player_id="1273327" first="Jayden" last="Schmenk"] came up with several fastbreak buckets in the second quarter. [player_tooltip player_id="870219" first="Jalen" last="Jackson"] up to 16 points for Northrop at the half, and [player_tooltip player_id="1273327" first="Jayden" last="Schmenk"] with 9 off of the fastbreak buckets. For Marion, [player_tooltip player_id="1158191" first="Taden" last="Metzger"] with 9 points on a perfect 4-4 shooting, and [player_tooltip player_id="1297057" first="Jaymen" last="Townsend"] with 9 points at the rim. Northrop led 34-32 at the half over the Giants.</p> <p>To start the second half, Marion came out firing with two quick triples by Cubie Jones and [player_tooltip player_id="1297057" first="Jaymen" last="Townsend"], but Northrop answered with a 13-3 run by getting in the lane and finishing in and through contact with Omarion Ennols and [player_tooltip player_id="870219" first="Jalen" last="Jackson"] getting a couple of buckets each. All in all, the third quarter was the battle between [player_tooltip player_id="870219" first="Jalen" last="Jackson"] and Cubie Jones as Jackson was getting to the rim and finishing while Jones was making things happen for his teammates and hitting shots. Jones would have 7 in the quarter to give him 11 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists. [player_tooltip player_id="870219" first="Jalen" last="Jackson"] with another huge quarter of 11 points put him up to 27 on the game. Northrop would lead 54-49 at the end of three.</p> <p>In the final quarter, it was the [player_tooltip player_id="870219" first="Jalen" last="Jackson"] show for Northrop as he scored or assisted on the first 7 points of the quarter for the Bruins as they were able to extend their lead out to 9 at 62-53. Marion was never able to overcome this deficit despite a valient effort from Cubie Jones, but Northrop would hold on to a 71-63 victory.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="870219" first="Jalen" last="Jackson"] led the way for both teams with 34 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 assists. Devin Campos added 8 points, 7 rebounds, 6 steals, and 4 assists in a great all-around game, and [player_tooltip player_id="1273327" first="Jayden" last="Schmenk"] added 11 points and 4 steals. For Marion, Cubie Jones led the way with 19 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, and 6 steals in a near triple/quadruple-double. [player_tooltip player_id="1297057" first="Jaymen" last="Townsend"] added 12 and [player_tooltip player_id="1158191" first="Taden" last="Metzger"] added 11 for the Giants in the win.</p> <p>On Sunday, we will be back with some player evaluations from this game. For now, [player_tooltip player_id="870219" first="Jalen" last="Jackson"] is a man, and he is going to make an immediate impact at UIC. The underclassman duo of [player_tooltip player_id="1158191" first="Taden" last="Metzger"] and [player_tooltip player_id="1297057" first="Jaymen" last="Townsend"] is going to be very good for the next couple of years, and Cubie Jones deserves a chance at the Division 3 level as he showed several signs of excellence in this one. Northrop is Snider’s biggest competition in Sectional 5, and [player_tooltip player_id="870219" first="Jalen" last="Jackson"] will be the difference-maker in that game.</p>