Triton rises to the occasion vs. Malcolm X

As Papa Kounta goes this season, so does the Triton College men's basketball team.

The lanky 6-foot-6 guard-forward broke out with a season-best 34 points, including six three-pointers, to power the Trojans (14-12) to an impressive 96-76 victory over rival Malcolm X College Thursday (Feb. 19) at the Jorndt Athletic Complex gymnasium.

"Papa's been a machine," said interim coach Taylor Lavery. "He's absolutely killing it at both ends."

The victory kept Triton's hopes alive to clinch the fourth seed in the Region 4 Division I tournament. A fourth seeding would mean opening with a home playoff game. At present, Triton is ranked fifth behind Sauk Valley Community College with two regular-season games remaining.

With Kounta red hot in the first-half, Triton jumped to a 27-6 lead midway through. The hosts lead 46-34 at halftime. Malcolm X (16-10) never got closer than eight points the rest of the way before Triton boosted its lead. Kounta put a cap on the night with his sixth three-pointer with one minute left.

Amazingly, Kounta was not the game's high scorer. That honor went to Hawks star Juaquin Dixon, who had 38 points on 13-for-25 shooting.

Lavery was not upset at Dixon's outburst. His strategy was not to let any other Hawk beat the Trojans. No other Dixon teammate had more than seven points.

"All 12 of us were prepared," Lavery said of players and coaches. "Guys stepped up and made plays."

Kounta was 12-for-17 shooting along with 10 shots from three-point range. He also was game-high rebounder with 10. He boosted his 14.3 points and 8.0 rebounds per game averages.

Overall, Triton shot 53 percent from the field. Matt Sullivan also had one of his best games with 18 points, including four three-pointers. Saadiq Moore had 12 points, Miles Mitchell 11 and Ethan Johnson 10.

Lavery's top wish after bottling the Malcolm X performance is good health. He has had to mix and match his lineup.

"This has been a really weird year with availability and injuries," he said.

The Trojans may need to run the table and win their remaining two games beginning at home (Feb. 24) vs. Kankakee Community College and at Wright College (Feb. 26). Then get some help from Malcolm X to defeat Sauk Valley the final day of the regular season (Feb. 28) to give themselves a chance to earn the four seed.

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(Story by tritonathletics.com contributor George Castle)