The Triton College men's basketball team's bench came through again to spark a late-game rally in the Trojans' 96-88 victory over Lake Land College Nov. 4 at the Jorndt Athletic Complex gym.
Top reserves
Matt Sullivan and
Ethan Johnson combined for 36 points, including six three-pointers, in helping wipe out a seven-point Lake Land lead midway through the second half amid a hard-fought high-scoring contest featuring nearly endless lead changes.
Consecutive three-pointers by Johnson enabled 11
th-ranked Triton to finally lead with four minutes to go. Then, Sullivan nailed a pair of free throws followed by a dagger-like three pointer that gave Triton a 91-84 lead with 50 seconds to go before the hosts finalized their second straight victory to start the season.
The Lakers, from downstate Mattoon, gave the Trojans all they could handle throughout a close first half that ended with a 49-45 Triton advantage. Then, Lake Land, which ended with a trio of 20-point scorers for the game, seized numerous second-half leads until the later Johnson and Sullivan heroics.
"They applied a lot of pressure in both full-court and half-court," said acting coach
Taylor Lavery. "We kind of got in foul trouble early with our guards and our bigs."
But Sullivan helped out the starters beginning with his entry into the game early on.
He has taken a big leap forward from his freshman season to become a key contributor. The 6-foot-5 Sullivan scored 23 points in the season opener against College of Lake County. He bettered that output with 24, including a trio of three pointers, in 29 minutes against Lake Land. Sullivan also was 9-for-9 from the free-throw line.
Los Angeles product Johnson totaled 12, three-quarters of the total being three pointers, in 17 minutes.
"Ethan is a good defender and shoots the ball well," said Lavery.
Top starter was guard
Brandon Davis with 21 points and a team-leading six assists. He was 8-for-9 from the free-throw line. Overall, the Trojans were 28-for-34 from the line.
Papa Kounta had 14 points and six rebounds, and
Saadiq Moore had 12 points. Top big man
Miles Mitchell had just eight, but scored on a driving layup that gave Triton the lead to stay at 82-80 with 2:30 to go in the contest.
All had their hands full with the Lake Land trio of Stevie Tatum, Kouki Tataeyama and Lavell Tinsley. Tatum had 16 points, including four three-pointers, in the first half. Fortunately, he cooled off in the second half. Each finished with 20. Tateyama was as accurate at the free-throw line as his Triton rivals, going 8-for-9.
After the two high-scoring home wins, Triton hits the road for tough contests this weekend in the Midwest JUCO Challenge in West Burlington, Iowa. Games against Mineral Area College and Three Rivers Community College are on the schedule Friday and Saturday, respectively.
"We'll prepare for the next step," Lavery said of the upcoming challenges.
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(Story by tritonathletics.com contributor George Castle) Â
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