Marion Athletics -

Second-year Marion coach Sammie Lewis expected a four-quarter game Tuesday night against Jonesboro inside Fidelity Bank Arena.

He got that, as well as a sentimental home victory.

Lewis's Patriots outscored the Hurricane by 3 points in the fourth quarter and denied Jonesboro on a final possession that could have tied the game late in that frame for a 61-56 win, his first against his alma mater and high school coach, Wes Swift.

"I think this group needed to win a close one," said Lewis. "We have been in all these games so far this year, and haven't been able to pull out a couple that we felt we could have, so to pull one out like this, at home, against a great team and program, we will take that."

Marion (5-3 overall) got a game-high 18 points from senior guard Chandler Randle, while junior Karlyl Hyland pumped in 14, and Korbin Littlejohn added 12. Randle added 6 rebounds while Jackson Black recorded 5.

Jonesboro fell despite getting 12 points apiece from B.J. Knowlton and Lleyton Weaver, and 10 from Jaylen Heard.

Marion got some good work on the glass in the victory, outrebounding Jonesboro 26-19, including 8 on the offensive glass.

"If you look at our board before every game, we stress rebounding the ball," said Lewis. "Jonesboro doesn't have a ton of size, but they crash the boards. Typically, if you win the rebounding battle, you can win the game, and we did tonight."

Jonesboro got the jump on Marion on Tuesday evening, however. After the Patriots took a 7-5 lead early in the first, the Hurricanes embarked on an 8-0 run to take a 13-7 lead.

The spurt started when Jayden Jones scored a layup, followed by a Weaver three-pointer that gave Jonesboro a 10-7 bulge, and that lead hit 13-7 when Knowlton slashed the rim for a layup through contact and completed a three-point play.

"Great job by the guys to keep pushing, even when it didn't start off so hot for us," said Lewis. "We stayed locked in, and it paid off."

Jonesboro led 20-16 late in the first, when a Hyland triple moved Marion within 20-19 after a quarter.
Hyland's second three-pointer gave Marion a 24-22 lead with 5:30 left in the second stanza, but the defenses dominated from there as the teams hit the locker rooms knotted at 26.

Marion opened the third quarter on an 8-0 run to earn some cushion.

The run began with a Black layup on the initial possession of the third, followed by a Jalen Neal runner, a Randle steal and dunk, and a Littlejohn layup that gave the hosts a 34-26 lead with 5:57 left in the third.

Jonesboro countered with a three-point play from Knowlton and 6 points to end the frame from Heard to creep within 43-41 to enter the fourth quarter.

Randle scored 4 quick points to give Marion a 49-43 lead with 5:42 left in the game, and a three-point play by Randle with 3:31 left gave his team a 52-45 advantage.

A Weaver three-pointer got Jonesboro within 52-48 on the ensuing possession, but a Hyland three with 1:30 left pushed Marion back ahead 55-48.

Trailing 57-52 with 41.1 seconds left, Jonesboro forced a Marion turnover in the backcourt, which Jones turned into a pair of free throws, leading to a Jones steal that he turned into a layup with 20 seconds left that got his team within 57-56.

Dexter Higgins, Jr. nailed a pair of free throws with 13 seconds left, and Randle came up with a steal and layup as time expired to clinch the five-point margin.