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Greyhounds win in first round game
DANVILLE, Ill. -- Fort Scott Community College took the lead with 9:44 left in the first half of its first-round NJCAA Division II National Tournament game against fourth-seeded South Suburban, Ill., at the Mary Miller Center here Wednesday afternoon.
The Greyhound never looked back as they went on to defeat fourth-seeded South Suburban, 77-59, the only upset of the first day of the tournament, to advance to a quarterfinal game which was played Thursday night.
Sophomore Prince Samuels led the way with a career-high 31 points, making 13 of 21 field-goal attempts. Head coach Michael Cook decided to spot the 6' 3" forward in a different position on the floor offensively and he was usually able to beat his defender to the basket.
"I told him (Tuesday) in practice, 'You shouldn't leave any shots unshot. We're going to play off you, put you in the middle,'" Cook said. "He plays a lot over the post, but this game we brought him high. I thought he played a great game."
The Greyhounds (15-16), making their first appearance in a national championship tournament since 1948, never trailed again after that score, an "old-fashioned" 3-point play by Dontae' Johnson that put the Greyhounds ahead 14-12 at the time. In fact, outside of a bit of worry provided when South Suburban hit consecutive 3-pointers early in the second half to whittle the deficit down to 4 points, the 'Hounds were able to increase their lead, getting it up as large as 20 points.
An 18-5 stretch in the second half, fueled mainly by free throws, pushed Fort Scott's lead to 58-41 with 9:49 remaining. During that run, on a transition basket by Kevin House, the 'Hounds went up by more than 10 points for the second time in the game.
The Bulldogs (28-6), making their third consecutive tournament appearance and sixth in the last eight years, never got closer than 11 points again. They were held 23 points below their season average of 82 points per game and to 34.4-percent field-goal shooting. South Suburban came into nationals shooting 47 percent from the field this season.
"It may have shocked them when we pushed the lead up to 15," Cook said. "We got some stops when we needed to."
Bulldog sophomore Antonio Levy personally outscored Fort Scott 8-2 early on to give his team a 12-7 lead with 14:31 left in the first half. Fort Scott scored the next 8 points, 6 of them on free throws, as they claimed the lead for good. Johnson's 3-point play was a part of that stretch.
South Suburban couldn't seem to get offensive rebounds and when it did, couldn't convert on the second chance. The Bulldogs, a slightly taller team, scored only 22 points in the paint.
The outside shot wasn't falling, either, as SSC made only 4 of 20 three-point attempts against the nation's best team against the 3-pointer. Fort Scott was allowing teams to make just 26 percent of their 3-point tries coming into the tournament.
And when South Suburban missed a shot, the 'Hounds were there for the rebound and they were able to do what they needed to do. They went out on the fast break when necessary but were also able to pull up and show patience, which really mattered as time wound down.
The switch to a 3-2 zone defense a few weeks ago helped in that regard, according to Cook.
"We were predominantly a man-to-man team but we lost a couple of guys off the team so we switched to a 3-2," he said. "And with our length out on top, it gives us a better advantage on the perimeter defense. It protects our guys, foul wise. And the switch to the 3-2 allows our guys to get out on the running lanes better when Kevin (House is) pushing the ball."
South Suburban head coach John Pigatt told his Bulldogs that they couldn't take the Greyhounds lightly.
"They played harder and they played smarter," Pigatti told Chad Dare of the Danville Commercial-News. "You can't tell impressionable kids, you can't tell them stuff and have them believe.
"We told them for a week that they are great players and now they will probably believe it."
The scoring didn't come in bunches for either side the rest of the half but South Suburban never again scored on consecutive occasions for the rest of the half after Levy's outburst. A Samuels drive and a 3-point basket by Dalton Rose made it 30-23 with 3:54 to go.
Jalen Brown hit a mid-range shot at the buzzer for South Suburban to bring his team within 36-29 at the break. Levy, then Brown hit back-to-back triples to bring the Bulldogs within 36-40 with 16:39 remaining in the game.
After that, Fort Scott started driving and South Suburban started fouling. The Greyhounds extended their lead to 17 points with 9:49 remaining, making 11 of 15 free-throws during that stretch.
Jerry Davis III scored back-to-back transition baskets and Levy also scored in transition as South Suburban got within 11, 58-47, with 7:55 to go. But after that, for the Greyhounds it was either drive and score or drive and get fouled. And the Bulldogs couldn't answer against Fort Scott's defense at the other end.
"At this stage, you just have to play your game," Cook said. "It seemed like those last five minutes were 30 minutes, honestly. If they get a couple of 3-pointers, it's a different game."
Samuels extended the lead to 19 with a short jumper to make it 70-51 with 3:53 to go. His final basket, with 1:18 left, created the biggest lead of 20 points, 77-57, with 1:18 remaining.
House added 24 points to Fort Scott's total as he made 13 of 17 free throws. Rose and Will Harrington each added 9 for the 'Hounds, who made a season-high 33 free throws out of 50.
Levy finished with 28 points for South Suburban, the second-most a Greyhound opponent has scored this season. But aside from Brown's double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds, he didn't get much help as only two other Bulldogs scored as many as 6 points.
Fort Scott shot 44 percent from the field, making 21 of 48 field-goal tries while South Suburban made 22 of 64. The 'Hounds turned the ball over just 6 times. House also had 4 assists and 2 steals.
Quarterfinal Round
The Greyhounds faced fifth-seeded Phoenix, Ariz., in Thursday night's quarterfinal with the Bears winning 62-57.
The Bears reached the quarters by rolling past unseeded Lake Michigan, 70-48, in the final game of the first round Wednesday night behind 20 points from Brandon Brown and 12 from Derreck Brooks. Phoenix came back from a 52-46 deficit with 6:22 remaining in Thursday's game. The Greyhounds (15-17) scored the last 9 points of the first half to lead 27-25 at the break.
Fort Scott will play top-seeded Cincinnati State at 3 p.m. this afternoon. The Surge (28-4) were upset by Central Nebraska, 90-78, in an earlier quarterfinal. The FSCC-Cincy State winner will play Wayne County, Mich., for fifth place Saturday at 2 p.m.
Due to the late start time of Thursday's game, the Tribune will provide more detail on our website this morning with greater detail and photos in Saturday's edition.
Every first-round game played Tuesday was won by the seeded team over the unseeded team. The day began with a 56-53 win for second-seeded Wayne County, Mich. over Carl Sandburg, Ill. Then No. 7 Wake Tech, N.C. defeated Potomac State, W. Va., 93-88 in overtime. Third-seeded Des Moines Area, Iowa followed with a 75-64 victory over St. Louis Community College. No. 6 Essex County, N.J. claimed an 85-82 verdict over Dean, Mass. In the night session, top-seeded Cincinnati State beat Garrett, Md., 80-65, and No. 8 Central Nebraska downed John Wood, Ill. 89-82.
Potomac State advanced in consolation Wednesday afternoon with an 83-70 win over Carl Sandburg. The first two championship semifinals took place in Wednesday's night session with Wake Tech routing Wayne County, 95-72, and Essex County rallied for a 68-66 win over Des Moines Area.