(Sugar Grove, IL.) - Waubonsee Community College's Cory Adams Jr. drilled a long three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Chiefs a thrilling 89-86 victory over Carl Sandburg College in the second game of the Chiefs' Round Robin Invitational Tournament. In the opening game on Friday evening Oakton Community College held off Illinois Valley Community College for a 96-89 victory. Day two will pit Oakton against Sandburg at noon tomorrow with Waubonsee taking on Illinois Valley at 2:00 p.m.
The Chiefs (2-1) were ice cold shooting the ball from the opening tip until the midway point of the first half. Waubonsee made just two of its first 15 shot attempts and fell behind 22-4. The Chiefs battled back behind a pair of three-point baskets by Adams and the inside play of Jymil Toney and Josh McAuley. Toney netted 11 first half points and McAuley added 10 as Waubonsee pulled to within three points (41-38) by the intermission.
Waubonsee took its first lead of the contest early in the second half when Adams nailed another trey from the left corner to put the Chiefs up 46-44. The game was tied at 57 with 9:28 left to play when McAuley picked up his fourth foul and went to the bench. The teams traded three pointers the next two minutes until Sandburg took a 67-65 lead on a couple of free throws after a technical foul on Chiefs' head coach Dave Heiss. Sandburg (2-2) extended its lead to seven points before Simeon Strauss made back-to-back three-pointers on consecutive trips down the floor to get the Chiefs within three (74-71) with five minutes to go. A baseline jumper by McAuley with 3:30 left gave Waubonsee a short-lived 75-74 lead before a three by Scott Gowan put the Chargers in front 77-75.
A pair of free throws by McAuley tied it with 2:38 remaining, but again the Chargers answered with a long shot from beyond the arc to go ahead 80-77. An offensive rebound and put back basket by McAuley again got the Chiefs to within one at 82-81 with 1:48 to go. After an inside basket by the Chargers, Adams made another triple from the right corner to tie the game at 84 with a minute remaining. Moments later Jacqui Orr stole the ball and scored on a breakaway for an 86-84 Waubonsee lead. Sandburg then broke the Chiefs pressure defense as Gowan scored on a lay-up with 0:22 to again tie it, prompting a Waubonsee timeout. Unable to get a shot off after working the ball around, the Chiefs took their final timeout with 0:05.8 left. On the ensuing play Cory Adams buried a long three-pointer from the left wing as the buzzer sounded to win it for Waubonsee.
McAuley, who came in averaging 39 points and 15 rebounds after the Chiefs' first two games, finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds for his third straight double-double. Adams booked 17 points, nailing five three-pointers, and handed out three assists. Elijah Marto keyed the Chiefs' second half long range shooting as Waubonsee went 10 for 15 from three-point range and finished the game 13 of 27 (52 percent) overall. The freshman connected on five treys to finish with 15 points. Strauss and Toney each tallied 11 points, Addison Bode registered seven assists, and Orr and Christopher Henderson each dished out four assists for the Chiefs. Gowan led all scorers with 32 points, while Deandrey Robinson added 22 for the Chargers who shot 52 percent (14 of 27) from beyond the arc for the game.