Photo by Samantha Davis. Marshall's Jack Meier goes up for a fast break layup after grabbing a steal in the first half against Mankato West Tuesday night at Marshall High School. Meier led with 21 points and seven rebounds in the Tigers' 86-73 win.

MARSHALL — Forcing 22 turnovers and assertive defense separated the Marshall boys basketball team from Mankato West early on and led the Tigers to an 86-73 victory Tuesday evening. Five players scored in double digits, led by Jack Meier’s 21 points and seven rebounds.

The victory marks four straight for the Tigers, who have now picked up their 10th win and have surpassed last season’s win total. Marshall finished 9-18 overall last year.

“It’s great to be on a winning team,” Meier said. “We’re actually a team this year. It’s a fun group of guys to be with off the court too. My teammates are all great.”

Marshall forced five consecutive West turnovers in the first three minutes of the game, and only continued to get more aggressive on the defensive end as the first half went on. The Scarlets rallied late in the second half, but the Tigers were able to stay grounded and preserve their lead.

“We pressed right away, and seeing all the guys flying around, getting tips and steals for every ball just really boosted our offense,” Meier said. “The transition was a big key to our success tonight, and sharing the ball.”

The Tigers built up a 13-point lead by halftime. They shot 44% from the field, went 5 for 19 on the perimeter, and went 63% at the free throw line. West shot 42% from the field and made six 3s with an 88% free-throw percentage.

Along with Meier, Cooper Mensink finished with 18, who made a team-high trio of 3-pointers. Alex Franson followed with 16 points, Levi Maeyaert added 13 and Jayden Meister finished with 12.

Franson and Meister each had five steals on the night.

Marshall was seeking out revenge against West, who ended its season last year in the Section 2AAA quarterfinals, 88-54. But, the Scarlets graduated a significant amount of their roster since and have won just three games this season so far.

“We watched film last night, and [head] coach [Travis Carroll] was like, ‘Do you guys know the last time we beat West?'” Meier said. “We all didn’t know, and he said it was before COVID the last time we beat them. So, it’s really huge that we can beat a section opponent in our home gym, and hopefully we’ll just keep this run going.”

Franson and Meier each led with 10 points at halftime. Franson continued to drive inside from the wing, while Meier continued to be found in the post.

Marshall started the game with a pair of turnovers, and neither team scored a basket in the first minute until Franson was put at the line going up for a fast break dunk and made a free throw.

The Tigers finished with 12 turnovers.

Those two early mistakes Marshall gave up were among the few, and it quickly fixed its errors and began to protect the ball. It started the game 7-0 after not allowing Mankato to spend much time in its offense, as Franson and Mensink helped in hitting a few breakaway buckets.

The Scarlets got on the board with a 3-pointer just over three minutes into the game, and Marshall ran a full-court press that flustered Mankato.

Meier hit back-to-back buckets to give Marshall its first double-digit lead of the night at 13-3.

The Scarlets cut the score to 5 with another 3-pointer, but Meier came up big again, posting up in the interior and rolled off his defender for a field goal.

JR Vierstraete also began to find his footing, and grabbed two consecutive baskets to put the Tigers up 23-15.

Continuing to keep the energy high in the main gym, Mensink grabbed a steal and found a sprinting Meister running up the left side of the court, and rainbow-passed it up to him for a dunk. Maeyaert immediately hit a 3-pointer afterwards to help Marshall begin to pull away 32-18.

Meister also finished with seven rebounds.

After a few stagnant minutes, West was able to cut the score to 8 points, but Franson took matters into his own hands and drilled in a 3, forced a steal and broke away for a dunk in the final minute of the half to give the Tigers a 44-31 lead heading into the locker room.

Mankato West came out of the half appearing more motivated, and started to run a press. But again, Marshall was able to find a quick response to break through it and continued its solid defense in return, along with consistent offense.

The Tigers’ offensive rebounding and ball movement also stood out, and gave them a handful more opportunities throughout the game’s entirety.

Marshall collected 30 rebounds on the night, split evenly with 15 on offense and 15 on defense. West only had seven offensive rebounds, and finished with 31 total.

Midway through the second half, West began to apply more pressure offensively and Marshall gave up a few easy shots to allow the lead to get cut to 8 points, 65-57.

“Just not valuing the ball, [West was] making quick passes and quick shots,” Meier said in regards to what Marshall needed to fix. “Weren’t sticking to the game plan.”

The Scarlets hit a 3 to cut into a 73-65 deficit, but a Meister offensive rebound putback and a pair of free throws from Mensink put Marshall back up by 10 points.

With time running down after West, Meister stood strong to collect a charge and Mensink sank a 3-pointer to keep the Tiger energy high and cohesive to finish the game.

“Our team defense is really shining this year, just because of our trust and our bond on and off the court,” Meier said.

Mensink fouled out with about 1:30 to go, but Marshall was able to survive with another Meister steal passed up to Meier, who fed it up to Franson for another fast break dunk to give the Tigers an 85-73 lead with less than a minute to go.

Meier hit a pair of free throws to finish the game off.

Marshall has been righting its path after dropping its first back-to-back games this season between Dec. 31 and Jan. 4, both of which came from ranked opponents Jackson County Central and Waseca.

“We just have to focus in practice,” Meier said. “Coaches are really harping on that right now. Just practice, and make sure we are locked in.”

The Tigers (10-3) next hit the road to take on New Ulm (2-10) on Thursday with a 7:30 p.m. tip off.