Overtime Victory Boosts Flyers to Second Round of National Tournament
The Sandhills Community College basketball team outscored Fulton-Montgomery CC 9-0 in the final two minutes of overtime and grabbed an 89-84 victory in Wednesday's first round NJCAA DIII tournament game held at Herkimer College in Herkimer, NY.
Trailing 84-80, the Flyers' Chad Kinch turned a steal into two points and about 30 seconds later Zach Riddle tied it up with a jumper. Kinch and Jamori McDougald combined to go 5-for-6 from the charity stripe the rest of the way to seal the win.
The No. 9 seeded Flyers (24-9) advance to a quarterfinal matchup against the tournament's No. 1 seed Dallas College – Northlake (26-4) at 2 p.m. on Thursday. The No. 8 seeded Raiders (25-5) from Johnstown, NY fall to the consolation bracket for a Thursday morning game.
Riddle scored his team's first eight points as the Flyers jumped out to an early 8-2 lead. The 12th point of the half by Riddle with a jumper, gave his team a 22-17 lead at the midpoint of the half. But 19 first-half points inside by Nahjhime Kirton helped the Raiders rally to take a 45-43 advantage into the intermission.
The game was tied up seven times in the second half before a technical foul and a succession of turnovers by the Flyers enabled the Raiders to take a 73-68 lead with just under seven minutes remaining in regulation.
Baskets by Riddle and Isaiah Nelson, and a three-point play by Kinch off a steal, moved the Flyers back in front at 78-77 at the 1:25 mark. Retied at 78-78 on free throw by the Raiders' Kirton with 1:04 remaining, neither side could score the rest of the way, leading to the extra period.
The New Yorkers scored the first four points of the overtime period before the Flyers won it with a final rally.
McDougald led five Flyers in double figures with 19 points. Riddle, 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Damien Robinson, 10 and 13, each posted a double-double. Ayden Gittens and Kinch added 14 and 13 points respectively. The leader in assists was Isaiah Nelson with six. The Raiders' Kirton finished with 25 points.
In a later Wednesday contest on the Flyers' side of the 12-team bracket, defending DIII national champion Brookdale CC (NJ), a fifth seed, defeated Hostos CC (NY) 93-76.
C. Bergmann
