Sports

Dre Marin Is a Clutch God

- by Sports Editor
Dre Marin is a Clutch God

Dre Marin is a Clutch God

I mean, just look at this:

Dre Marin has been an absolute killer during crunch time the last two games, and he’s only a sophomore. Let’s take a look at how Marin has discovered the existence of the clutch gene in his last two performances.

Marin Sends Weber to OT and Leads the Way to a Win in Ogden

With two minutes left, Weber State took a four point lead via a Cody John layup. SUU was nearing the completion of a hard fought upset in one of the Big Sky’s most notorious venues, but the road ahead appeared daunting.

Dre Marin Is a Clutch God

The next possession was critical. If SUU fell behind by more than four, the game would be virtually over. Andre Adams finished a tough layup in traffic to pull the T-Birds within two with just 59 seconds remaining.

SUU played great defense and John missed the jumper. With 40 seconds on the clock, Coach Todd Simon put the ball in Marin’s hands and Marin drove hard to the basket where he was fouled.

Only 23 ticks left on the clock. The T-Birds are down two against their bitter rivals. If Marin misses either of these free throws, the game is over.

Marin steps to the line and drills both free throws, as cool as can be.

The game heads to overtime and Marin kicks things off with an assist to Adams. Weber’s All-Big Sky guard Jerrick Harding nails a three on the next possession and pulls the momentum back in favor of the Wildcats.

Marin cooly hit a step back three over Harding, chipped in five more points from the line, and beat Weber in Ogden for the first time since the 2014-15 season. If you looked closely enough, you could almost see the exact moment where the ice water in his veins transformed him into Sub-Zero.

The Second Coming of Sub-Zero vs NAU

I don’t know how he managed to do it, but Marin somehow upped the clutch meter even further during the last two minutes against Northern Arizona.

He turned the thermostat down when NAU edged ahead 78-76 with 47 seconds left on the clock. Marin came around an Adams screen and nailed a three from the top of the key. Please take a moment to compare the shot to when he froze Harding in Ogden:

But, that wouldn’t be the end of his heroics.

NAU’s Carlos Hines scored on the Lumberjacks next possession to go up one. Marin went around another Adams screen from the extended elbow and attacked the rim. He fought through the foul, made the layup and sunk the free throw, putting SUU up two with :19 remaining. Look at the body control:

The Lumberjacks responded with a clutch play of their own, scoring an and-1 layup, but missed the go-ahead free throw.

At this point, Marin had scored six points in 28 seconds. No doubt, this would be a stand-alone clutch performance for an other player. But Sub-Zero is not your average player.

Marin took the inbound pass with 11 seconds to go. He slid past another Adams screen just past midcourt. NAU switched the screen and 6’9” center Brooks Debisschop matched up with the 6’0” guard. Marin hesitated at the top of the key, went to his left and stepped back and released a jumper over the behemoth center.

Nothing but net. Watch it again and try not to get chills:

Marin scored eight of his total 13 points in the last minute and didn’t break a sweat while doing it. It’s tough to carry a team on your back with the game on the line (looking at you, James Harden), but Marin rose to the challenge and froze the Lumberjacks.

Marin has scored 18 points in the last two minutes/overtime of his last two games on 4-5 shooting from the field and 8-9 from the line.

His performance has been chilling and his presence as a go to scorer down the stretch is a life-saver for the T-Birds.

Story by: Connor Sanders
sports@suunews.net
Photos by: Mitchell Quartz

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