Poor Shooting Dooms Greyhounds
Delta College used 58% shooting from the field to overcome the Greyhounds' 33% to take an 80-73 victory in the quarterfinals of the NJCAA National Tournament in Danville, Illinois.
March 22, 2018
2018 NJCAA DII MEN'S NATIONAL BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
(11) Delta College PIONEERS (University Center, MI) 21-6
VS
(14) Arkansas State University Mid-South GREYHOUNDS (West Memphis, AR) – 27-6
For immediate release: Thursday, March 22, 2018
Danville, IL – Game 15 was a quarterfinal matchup that paired 11th-seeded Delta College against 14th-seeded Arkansas State University Mid-South. Delta seized control of the game early after it took nearly three and a half minutes for Arkansas State to score their first bucket. In that time, the Pioneers were able to score seven times and
take a 15-3 lead.
Delta was led by guard Cedric Moten who finished the half with a team-high 10 pints. Martel Handley and Justin Person, the two other guards of the Pioneers starting trio, each had eight in the half.
For Arkansas State, their size was an advantage late in the half as Trevor Banks was able to continually get the ball down low and finish or go to the line. However, many of the Greyhound trips were unsuccessful. They missed seven of their final 14 attempts of the half. Arkansas' Dee Montgomery led all scorers at the break with 16. He and Banks scored the final 18 points of the half for the Greyhounds, who battled back into the game after trailing by as much as 16. The halftime score was 43-36 in Delta's favor.
HALFTIME SCORE:
Delta – 43
Arkansas St - 36
1st HALF LEADERS:
Delta:
#14 Cedric Moten, 6'1, So. – 10pts, 5-8 FG
#1 Martel Handley, 6'2, So. – 8pts, 2rebs, 3-4 FG
#10 Jalen Fykes, 6'4, So. – 4pts, 5rebs
#5 Justin Person, 5'10, So. – 8pts, 4asts, 3-5 FG
Arkansas St:
#10 Dee Montgomery, 5'11, So. – 16pts, 5-8 FG, 5-9 FT
#13 Trevor Banks, 6'7, So. – 6pts, 2-3 FG, 2-5 FT
#30 K.J. Patrick, 6'6, So. – 5pts, 8rebs
Arkansas State came out scoring the first four points of the half and made it a three-point game, 43-40, the closest it had been since 2-0.
But that quickly dissipated and Delta scored the next nine points. Spearheaded by Person, and Jalen Fykes, the two scored the first 14 points of the second half for the Pioneers.
With 13:12 left in the game, back-to-back calls against the Greyhounds had head coach Chris Parker hot. He picked up a technical foul in the process and after the free throws, Delta led by 12, 57-45.
Dee Montgomery scored two consecutive baskets for Arkansas to cut the lead back within single digits, 57-49. Montgomery scored 12 more points in the second half, bringing his total to 28 for the game.
But the effectiveness of the three guards for Delta wore down the Greyhounds. Person, Fykes, Moten and Handley scored 62 of the teams 80 points and all but three of the teams 37 second half points.
From 9:10 to 3:45, Delta went on a 9-0 run in which Arkansas remained stuck on 57. And with less than four minutes, the Pioneers led by 17. One final push by Arkansas was not enough and Delta held on for an 80-73 win.
Delta College will advance to play Pima Community College in a semifinal game on Friday at 8:30pm. Arkansas State University Mid-South will play in an elimination game on Friday at 1:00pm against Highland (Kan.) Community College.
FINAL SCORE:
Delta – 80
Arkansas St - 73
TEAM LEADERS:
Delta:
#5 Justin Person, 5'10, So. – 21pts, 4rebs, 4asts, 8-12 FG
#14 Cedric Moten, 6'1, So. – 17pts, 6rebs, 7-13 FG
#10 Jalen Fykes, 6'4, So. – 15pts, 10rebs, 2blks, 5-8 FG
#1 Martel Handley, 6'2, So. – 9pts, 3asts
Arkansas St:
#10 Dee Montgomery, 5'11, So. – 28pts, 3ast, 10-19 FG, 6-12 FT
#13 Trevor Banks, 6'7, So. – 8pts, 7rebs, 2stls
#12 Terrandus Smith, 6'4, So. – 8pts, 5rebs
#30 K.J. Patrick, 6'6, So. – 5pts, 10rebs