Strong Finish Keeps No. 1 Salt Lake Unblemished
Mesa, AZ – Trailing by as many as thirteen in the first half, the top ranked Bruins overcame a sluggish start to overtake No. 8 Indian Hills CC (IA), 76-73 in the semifinals of the Fiesta Bowl Junior College Shootout.
Salt Lake outscored the Warriors 18-10 in the last 6 minutes of the first half, and 39-31 in the second to complete the comeback.
In what shaped up to be a battle of NJCAA heavyweights between the Pre-season #1 and #2 ranked teams, the game didn’t disappoint anyone in attendance or watching online. It easily resembled the intensity of a national tournament game with both teams having leads and missed opportunities down the stretch.
Salt Lake’s Jordan Brinson made two FTs with 3:23 left, bringing the Bruins to within two, 69-67. From that point on it was a one possession game.
Brinson was the catalyst for the Bruins, scoring 12 of the team’s final 13 points on his way to game high twenty. He also led the team with 3 steals and 2 assists. During that four minute spurt at the end, Brinson was perfect, going 4 for 4 from the field, and the same from the line.
Quincy McGriff added 14 and Festus Ndumanya finished with 10 points and 8 boards for the winners.
Indian Hills, now 12-4, will meet host Mesa CC in the 3rd place game. The Warriors had five in double figures. Leading the way was Eddiean Tirado with 12. Braxton Bayless, Enoch Kalambay, and J’Vonne Hadley each contributed 11. Davin Zeigler added 10.
The Warriors were +6 rebounding margin, with Isaiah Marin, Kalambay, and Hadley each grabbing 8.
Indian Hills outshot the #1 team 44-35% from the field, including 25-11% on threes. Both teams were a dismal 62% from the stripe, but the difference was in the number of attempts.
Salt Lake made 32 of 51 free tosses, while Indian Hills was 18-29. A total of 60 fouls interrupted play in the game, with IHCC responsible for 35 of those stoppages. Five Warriors fouled out of the contest, one Bruin.
In addition to the advantage the Bruins had from the charity stripe, another telling tale in the outcome was the turnover margin. Indian Hills committed 21 to Salt Lake’s 9, with the Bruins enjoying a 31-10 advantage on points off turnovers.
Indian Hills did just about everything better the SLCC, except score more points. Salt Lake led for a little over 2 1/2 minutes of the 40, but they were ahead when it counted the most.
SLCC moves to 16-0 on the season and will take on Region 18 rival # 15 Snow College (11-3) in the tournament championship Wednesday (December 29).
Eleven days ago, Salt Lake defeated Snow 94-64 in Ephraim, UT, a bitterness I’m certain is still taunting the Badgers taste buds. After a short break the teams will meet again in Salt Lake on January 6, 2022. Actually depending on the District Tournament, these two teams could meet five times this season.
