Salt Lake Survives Another Close Call For Semifinal Berth
Hutchinson, KS – It’s quarterfinal day at the NJCAA Men’s DI National Championship in Hutch. First game featured the No. ranked team in the country and tournament #1 Seed Salt Lake CC Bruins (UT) and the #8 Seed Odessa College Wranglers (TX).
Odessa had beaten Shelton State CC (AL) in the sweet sixteen, Salt Lake survived a late scare from Moberly Area CC (MO).
Odessa led by as many as nine in the first period, but a lay-in by Shakeem Alcindor with less than a minute left evened the score at 33, and that’s how the half ended. It was the 6th tie in the half.
The second half had four more ties, and 4 lead flops, the last one midway through the period, put Salt Lake up one. Odessa stayed withing striking distance (two possessions) the last 5:30, but found themselves down only three in the last few seconds.
As the clock was ticking down, Odessa’s Darrell Armstrong, Jr took a three from left elbow extended that was way off target, but he was fouled on the play. After a lengthy review, the officials determined Armstrong was indeed outside the arc when he launched the shot, resulting in three FT attempts.
The clock was resting at :04 as Armstrong stepped to the line. The first clanked right rim but he drained the second. No longer able to tie with the clocked stopped, Armstrong was instructed to arch a high final attempt hoping to get a long rebound and possible put back for the tie.
The plan worked to perfection as the free throw went hard left which was retrieved by the Wrangler’s Daniss Jenkins who had heavy traffic surrounding him with contact, but the shot fell way short and Salt Lake was moving on.
Salt Lake (34-4) is the first to claim a spot in the national semifinal, Friday, March 18, at 5:00 CDT vs. the Harcum/Chipola winner. Festus Ndumanya paved the way for the Bruins with 16, Doctor Bradley followed with 12 and Jaquan Scott put in 10 plus 7 rebounds. Jordan Brinson, the Bruins round of sixteen top dog, had a team high six assists.
Odessa ends their season at 28-7. Leading scorers for the Wrangler’s were Alcindor and Anthony Marshall with 14. Marshall also dished 6 dimes and grabbed six boards. Daniel Rivera completed play with 11, while Jenkins dropped in ten.
