Trojans are gaining momentum at the right time

The Triton College men's basketball team is still in position to host a first round postseason game after a second-half rally powered a 79-77 victory over Region 4 rival Kankakee Community College Tuesday (Feb. 24) at the Jorndt Athletic Complex gymnasium.

The Trojans (15-12) are holding on to the fourth seed – enabling the homecourt of the playoff opener – of the Region 4 Division I postseason rankings. But clinching the seed will depend on winning the regular-season finale at Wright College Thursday (Feb. 26) and the outcome of the Sauk Valley-Malcolm X season-ender Saturday (Feb. 28).

Triton more than held up its end of the process when the hot second halves of Ethan Johnson and Saadiq Moore complemented another prodigious performance by fast-finishing Papa Kounta (game-high 24 points and 13 rebounds). The Trojans outscored the Cavaliers (20-9) 22-11 in a seven-minute stretch into the final minute.

Interim coach Taylor Lavery is happy a team beset by injuries and inconsistency has displayed impressive play late in the season against quality opponents like Kankakee and Malcolm X with playoff positioning on the line.

"It's better to be late than early," said Lavery. "We're doing the right things at the right time."

Such logic applied to the rally against the Cavaliers. Triton had trailed 33-27 at halftime and was not shooting particularly well. The hosts fell behind by as many as eight points near the midpoint of the second half. Then a 7-0 run capped by a Johnson three-pointer cut the lead to one at 55-54.

Kankakee pulled ahead 62-57 with 7:30 to go. But then Moore got hot, with repeatedly successful drives to the basket that finally gave Triton the lead at 65-64. Moore tallied eight consecutive points. He scored nine of his 11 points in the second half.

"We're been preaching to him the last couple of games to be aggressive. He went downhill well," said Lavery.

Kankakee had its final lead at 73-72. But then Triton tallied four in a row with Kounta grabbing a key rebound with 22 seconds left. With the Trojans' 76-73 lead, they had outscored the Cavaliers 22-11 in a seven-minute span.

A Nashawn Holmes (Kankakee high scorer with 19) three-pointer cut the lead to 79-77 with seconds to go. But that stood as the final score.

Johnson scored all 12 of his points in the second half, matching Kounta's production after intermission. Kounta was 10-for-18 from the field and 4-for-5 from the free-throw line.

"He's been our anchor at both ends of the floor," Lavery said of Kounta.

Terez Holmes had a team-leading six assists and four blocks to go along with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Matt Sullivan hit a trio of three pointers, finishing with 13 points.

Follow Triton Athletics on Twitter @TritonTrojans1 or on Instagram @Triton_College_Athletics

(Story by tritonathletics.com contributor George Castle)