The postseason tournament run for the Triton College men's basketball team came to a heartbreaking end in a 58-57 loss to No. 2 seed Cowley College (Kan.) in the second round of the NJCAA Division I Championship March 24 in Hutchinson, Kan.
The No. 15 seeded Trojans saw a 12-point halftime lead quickly dissipate before a chaotic finish led to a season that ended 29-6.
With Triton down 56-55 in the final minute, UMKC commit
Vijay Wallace drove deep in the lane, made a solid move to his right and got the soft roll on a short jumper to put the Trojans up 57-56 with 27 seconds left. The Tigers (30-4) who had three timeouts at their disposal did not call one and Marcus Ziegler ended up being in the right place to pick up a loose ball and hit an off-balance jumper with 8.9 to play. Triton, out of timeouts, had one last chance as
Kaiden Space driving layup rimmed short and a
Tolu Samuels tip attempt was no good as time expired.
The Trojans grind it out formula they used successfully in their opening round win against Columbia State (Tenn.) put them in position for the upset. Triton used a 19-4 run to build a 28-14 advantage following a Space three with 2:29 left in the first half. The Trojans would take a 30-18 lead at the half, holding Cowley to 20 percent shooting from the field (5-for-25).
Unfortunately, the Tigers came out on fire to start the second half. Cowley scored the first eight points capped by a MJ Whitlock breakaway dunk that trimmed the Triton lead down to 30-26 that forced head coach
Brian Burns to call a timeout with 17:09 remaining.
Cowley, despite Burns' efforts to slow down their momentum, kept coming and eventually started the second half with a 21-3 run to grab a 39-33 lead after a steal and layup by Dallas Whitney forced another timeout with 12:07 left in the contest.
The Trojans would still trail 46-40 with eight minutes to play before finding their stride again. Triton fought back with a 12-4 spurt to go on top 52-50 on a
Peitok Machar tip-in with just under five minutes left to set-up the back-and-forth ending that saw the lead change hands five times.
Machar would lead Triton in scoring with 17 points along with grabbing 11 rebounds and four blocked shots. Wallace finished with 16 points. Space added seven points for the Trojans.
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