By: Brooks Tait – JCFloridan.com

Thanks to a strong showing from Dejuan Marrero, the Chipola Indians men's basketball team got its third win of the season over the Lawson State Cougars on Thursday night, 80-72. Marrero had 19 points, 15 rebounds and 2 blocks. He also had 4 steals, but even more impressive were the 10 deflections he had, contributing to Chipola's 19 total steals on the night.

Chipola assistant coach Josh Daeche called it "a game of runs." The Indians went up early, but Lawson State came back 11-0, keeping it close at 18-17. At one point in the first half, Chipola led by nine, but by halftime, the lead had already been cut back to four, 37-33. In the second half, the Indians tried to pull away again, increasing the lead back to 12, but the Cougars again switched the momentum when they fought back, even coming to lead by two points with less than a minute remaining.

At this point head coach Patrick Blake and the Indians must have been thinking back to other games so far this season, as three of Chipola's five defeats have been within 6-point spreads. This time, however, Marrero was fouled twice and ended up 11-14 from the free-throw line to cap off the victory for Chipola.

"We're still a young team and we're working through the [growth] process," Daeche said about the early season struggles for the Indians. "But it was really because of Marrero that we were able to hang on for the win."

Tra-Deon Hollins followed up Marrero with 16 points and 9 assists, and Kevin Scott put up 12 more points, going 2-3 from the 3-point arc. Greg King had what Daeche called "probably the best game we've seen out of him thus far," landing an additional 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Indians.

Chipola's two games this week are expected to continue the challenge for the Indians, as they face the still undefeated Broward College Seahawks at 6 p.m. on Monday, and a solid Miami-Dade team at 5 p.m. on Tuesday before the Thanksgiving break. Both games are on the road.