The Triton College men's basketball team has reached the Region 4 Division I title game at home after winning dramatic games two days apart by identical 91-88 scores.
The fifth-seeded Trojans clinched the championship game berth against Malcolm X College at 7:30 p.m. Saturday (March 7) after a semi-final victory over No. 1-seeded Olive-Harvey Thursday (March 5) in which Triton had to hang on down the stretch after crafting a 20-point first-half lead. That achievement came on the heels of a stunning overtime win Tuesday (March 3) at Sauk Valley Community College in which the Trojans trailed by five points with just a minute to play.
Triton (18-12) hopes to continue its late-season surge against the team that helped begin the season's best stretch of play. The Trojans have won five in a row since a dominating 96-76 home win over Malcolm X on February 19.
"We're playing our best basketball at the most important time," said interim coach
Taylor Lavery. "A weird up and down year. We're moving in the right direction."
Designated as the road team in the semifinal at the Jorndt Athletic Complex gymnasium, the Trojans rode
Matt Sullivan's five three-pointers and 19 points, and
Terez Holmes' 13 points to a productive first half. The red-garbed "visitors" built a 49-29 lead with just under three minutes to go.
But the Panthers (25-7) gave a preview of action to come by scoring the last 10 points of the first half. Olive-Harvey cut the lead further to four points early in the second half before three-pointers by
Will Scott and
Saadiq Moore boosted the Triton edge to 77-65 with just more than six minutes to play.
Olive-Harvey again did not give up, gradually cutting into the lead and trailing just 86-83 with 23.8 seconds to go. However, Sullivan, Holmes and
Papa Kounta hit five three throws as the Panthers were forced to foul, building the lead back up to six points. A last-second Olive-Harvey three-pointer accounted for the final 91-88 score.
As Triton shot 51 percent overall for the game, Sullivan tied Olive-Harvey's Terrance Shannon for game-high scoring honors with 23 points. Â "That kind of sparked us throughout the game," Lavery said of Sullivan's shooting.
Meanwhile, Holmes had a great all-around game with 22 points, 10 rebounds and two blocked shots while playing different positions.
"It's being able to adapt," Holmes said. "I play the '5,' play the '4' and even play '1.' Anything to help the team."
Kounta had 17 points and a game-high 14 rebounds, while Scott also had 17 points and a team-high six assists.
Almost every active Trojan got into the act. Moore had eight points, while benchwarmer
Nathan Nyarko contributed a couple of baskets in seven minutes of second-half play. In a first-half cameo appearance, Nyarko also blocked a shot.
"Nate getting blocks, getting stops was big," Lavery said. "You've got to be ready when your number is called."
Lavery has been amazed at the Trojans' finishing kick in March.
"We played a helluva game against Sauk Valley, where we clawed back into it," he said.
Triton has set a high standard in recent years, reaching the NJCAA Division I championship game and consistently playing in the national tournament in Hutchinson, Kan. This year's version is aiming at the same destination despite not winning as many games as previous teams.
"Deeper and deeper (into the season), we're getting better," Holmes said. "We're supposed to be here."
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(Story by tritonathletics.com contributor George Castle) Â
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