Greyhounds Advance to Region Championship Game

Down by 4 points at the half, the Greyhounds used a stifling defense in the second half to take a 72-57 victory over the National Park College Nighthawks in the NJCAA Region 2 Tournament semifinals at Harding University Sunday night.

The Greyhounds now advance to the NJCAA Region 2 Tournament Championship game Monday at 7:00pm against SAU Tech with the winner advancing to the South Plains District Championship game at North Central Missouri College on Saturday, March 5.

J.T. Smith scored 12 of the Greyhounds' first 16 points of the game, but National Park hit a three-pointer with 6:00 remaining for a 28-18 lead. The Greyhounds then responded with a 12-2 run to even the score at 30-30 at the 1:14 mark. However, the Nighthawks scored the final four points of the half to take a 34-30 lead into the break.

Then in the second half, the Nighthawks scored first with two free throws to lead 36-30, but the Greyhounds proceeded to go on a 17-5 run started by a T.J. Stewart breakaway dunk, and ASU Mid-South eventually led by as many as 17 points with 4:35 remaining on a Jailen Anderson layup, and the National Park could not get closer than 13 points the rest of the way.

ASU Mid-South shot 43.9% from the field but just 25.0% from the three-point line and 52.4% from the free throw line. But the defense held the Nighthawks to 39.0% shooting from the field, 21.7% shooting from the arc, and forced 28 Nighthawk turnovers.

J.T. Smith led all scorers with 18 points to go with a team-high 6 rebounds, and game-highs of 5 assists and 4 steals. Jailen Anderson and Christian Thompson scored 13 points each, and T.J. Stewart finished with 10 points. Braxtyn McCuien also had 6 rebounds to go with 8 points, and Tim Johnson chipped in 6 points while also collecting 4 steals.

Now in their tenth year of NJCAA Division II competition, the Greyhounds (14-11) are appearing in their tenth consecutive region championship game.