Greyhounds Defeat Mott to Advance to 7th Place Game

Playing against one of the premiere junior college programs in the country, the Greyhounds used a tough defense and efficient offense to down the Mott Community College Bears 68-56 to advance to Championship Saturday's 7th Place game at the NJCAA National Tournament in Danville, Illinois.

Mott is led by the most successful basketball coach in the state of Michigan, Steve Schmidt, who has won four NJCAA National Championships and was elected into the NJCAA Men's Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2010. The Bears came into this year's National Tournament as a #10 seed and lost in the first round to #7 seed Milwaukee Area Technical College who is playing in Saturday's National Championship Game. They then defeated #15 seed Central Community College to advance to the consolation semifinals against the Greyhounds.

The Greyhounds (25-11) were playing less than 18 hours since leaving the court in yesterday's win over Scottsdale (AZ), but were able to hold Mott to just 2 points over the game's first 7:30 minutes of play in building a 12-2 lead. The Bears would respond with back-to-back baskets and eventually cut the lead to 13-8 before the Greyhounds responded with a couple of baskets to maintain a lead into halftime. The Bears did cut the lead to 24-22 with 2:31 on the clock, but ASU Mid-South's Jesse Washington hit two three-pointers, the second one a buzzer-beater, to give the Greyhounds a 33-22 lead at the half.

In the second half, the Greyhounds controlled the game and kept a double-digit lead until the Bears' Zavion McClendon hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to 44-35 with 13:10 to go. But the Greyhounds went inside to Christian Thompson and then Jesse Washington hit another three-pointer on consecutive possessions to give ASU Mid-South a 14-point lead. The Bears would come back again with a three-pointer from Mehki Ellison to cut the lead to 49-41 with 10:57 to play, but again ASU Mid-South responded with a traditiional three-point play from Washington. Mott's Ellison then hit a long three-pointer off the backboard to cut it again to 8 points, but Washington got an offensive rebound and putback to push the lead back to double figures.

Then with 5 minutes to go, Mott cut the Greyhound lead to 9 points three times before a Bear three-pointer from Zavion McClendon cut the lead to 7 points, 63-56, with 1:19 remaining. But the Greyhounds responded to Mott's full court press with a perfect press break that resulted in a dunk by Je'marion Westbrook, and after rebounding a Mott miss on the ensuing possession, Westbrook was fouled and calmly sank both free throws to push the ASU Mid-South lead back to 11 points with 1:00 left to play. Jailen Anderson then finished the scoring by hitting one of two free throws for the final count.

The Greyhounds held Mott to just 37.9% shooting and 5-of-19 (26.3%) from the three-point line while hitting 44.2% from the field and 5-of-11 (45.5%) from the arc. The Greyhounds also held a 36-35 edge on the boards and forced 18 turnovers while giving up 13. Nate Brown led the Bears with 20 points and Mehki Ellison finished with 19 to lead Mott whose season ends with a 25-10 overall record.

For ASU Mid-South, Jesse Washington led the way with 18 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals which were team-highs in all four categories. Braxtyn McCuien scored 15 points to go with 7 boards, Je'marion Westbrook came off the bench to finish with 13 points and 6 rebounds, and Jailen Anderson chipped in 12 points.

The Greyhounds advance to Championship Saturday and play Johnson County Community College (KS) at 11:00am in the 7th Place game. This is the second time ASU Mid-South will place at the NJCAA National Tournament in just their second appearance.