Greyhounds Win Fifth Region Championship in Seven Years

The Greyhounds got solid play off the bench to overcome foul trouble in taking a 90-79 victory over the National Park College Nighthawks in the finals of the NJCAA Region 2 Tournament at Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas. The win gives ASU Mid-South their fifth NJCAA Region Championship in the last seven years as the most successful junior college men's basketball program in the state of Arkansas.

After splitting the season series with the Greyhounds taking a 72-70 win at home on January 26 and National Park College winning 88-87 in overtime in Hot Springs on February 25, the game looked to be another classic that would go down to the wire. But the Greyhounds broke a 15-15 tie with 10:39 left in the first half and never tied or trailed the rest of the game.

Leading 24-22 with just under seven minutes to go in the first half, the Greyhounds went on a 14-4 run that started with a Christian Thompson traditional three-point play on the way to a 38-31 lead at the half. Then the second half began with a 9-2 Greyhound run capped by a Braxtyn McCuien three-pointer for a 47-33 advantage at the 17:35 mark. Then with 15:59 left, National Park's Quinnez Grimes received a technical foul and McCuien knocked down both free throws for ASU Mid-South's largest lead of the game, 53-35. But the Nighthawks refused to surrender, going on an 8-0 run to trail 53-41 until a Je'marion Westbrook 8-foot jumper broke the momentum with 13:25 left to play. The Greyhounds would then stretch the lead to 20 points on two Kyrin Dock free throws at the 6:27 mark to lead 74-54 before the Nighthawks made one final push cut the lead to 79-69 with 2:30 to play. The Greyhounds responded by making their free throws until Nakaveion White hit a tough 18-foot turnaround jumper and the Nighthawks turned a turnover into a layup to cut the lead to 84-75 with 44.5 seconds remaining. But that's as close as they would get as the Greyhounds took care of the ball and knocked down free throws for the final count.

National Park College was limited to just 38.5% shooting from the field and only 2-of-16 (12.5%) from the three-point line while converting an outstanding 27-of-31 (87.1%) from the free throw line. The Greyhounds shot 45.0% from the field, 30% from the arc and 76.7% from the free throw line while controlling the boards, 43-30 and giving up just 6 offensive rebounds.

Christian Thompson led the way with 22 ponts and 5 rebounds, but it was big minutes from Je'marion Westbrook off the bench that allowed the Greyhounds to battle through foul trouble as the freshman from Marianna, Arkansas, totaled his third double-double of the season with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Jailen Anderson scored 12 points and collected 5 rebounds, and Jesse Washington chipped in 10 points to go with 9 boards. Braxtyn McCuien and Chris Martin finished with 9 points each, and Kyrin Dock added 5 points.

The Greyhounds (22-10) advance to the Central Plains District Championship where they will host Region 16 winner Metropolitan Community College Saturday, March 11, at 4:00pm. The winner will advance to the NJCAA National Basketball Tournament March 21-25 in Danville, Illinois.