(Sugar Grove, IL.) – Waubonsee Community College's men's basketball team was relentless on the defensive end of the floor, on the glass and in close to the basket on the offensive end. It all eventually added up to a resounding 89-46 victory over Wright College in the Region IV Division II District 4 Tournament. The third-seeded Chiefs outscored the sixth-seeded Rams 42-8 in the paint alone to earn their 20th win of the season, the 17th time under Dave Heiss' direction that Waubonsee has won 20 or more games in a season. The Chiefs also out rebounded the visiting Rams 45-23, forced 23 turnovers and held Wright to just 14 percent (4 of 28) from three-point range.
The game was considerably different from the first time these two teams met on Dec. 17 in Sugar Grove. In that one the Chiefs pulled away down the stretch to win 74-62. This time Waubonsee jumped out to a 14-7 lead in the opening minutes. The Chiefs took their biggest lead of the first half when Jacob Niesman stole the ball and raced down the floor for a breakaway lay-up, putting the Chiefs ahead 36-21 with 2:30 to go. Waubonsee led 37-23 at halftime and maintained that comfortable lead five minutes into the second half. A minute later the Chiefs then began to pull away as Niesman scored on a driving lay-up in traffic and was fouled. His three-point play put Waubonsee in front 53-32. Midway through the half Darnell Wright scored inside to give the Chiefs a 63-40 lead. Waubonsee continued to pour it on and surged ahead 77-42 with six minutes remaining after consecutive three-pointers by Demetrius Ewing, part of a 23-4 run by the Chiefs to put the game away. Waubonsee outscored the Rams 52-23 in the second half.
Six different players reached double digits in scoring, led by Wright's 20 points and 14 rebounds, his 12th double-double of the season. Ewing contributed 14 points and six boards, nailing four shots from beyond the arc. Deland "DJ" Deere added 13 points, four assists and three steals. Niesman chipped in with 10 points and five assists, Kevin Jackson tallied 10 points, six rebounds and three assists, while Jake Pike also booked 10 points. Antonio Newman was the lone player in double digits for Wright, which finishes the season with a 16-14 overall record, scoring 14 points to go along with five steals.
The Chiefs (20-10) advance to a semi-final match up this coming Sunday, March 4, against second-seeded South Suburban College (26-5) starting at 6:00 p.m. in Erickson Hall Gymnasium. Waubonsee is once again the host site for the women's and men's Region IV Division II Tournament. Four women's semi-final games (noon, 2pm, 4pm & 6pm) will be played in Erickson Hall this coming Saturday, and four men's semi-final contests (noon, 2pm, 4pm & 6pm) will be played the following day on Sunday, March 4. The two women's championship games (noon & 2:30pm) will be held on Saturday, March 10, with the men's title contests (5pm and 7:30pm) afterwards. All four title games will be broadcast 'live' at www.GoChiefs.com/RegionIV and locally on cable television. Check with your local provider for the channel in your area. For additional tournament information, including all four tournament brackets, go to www.GoChiefs.com You can also follow on Twitter @WaubonseeChiefs to get timely updates on all the tournament action, and you can share your tournament experiences at #Region4BBALL.