(Sugar Grove, IL) – After going through a five-week lay-off due to Covid-19 related issues, Waubonsee Community College's men's basketball team appears to be getting its feet back under itself. The Chiefs improved to 9-3 overall and 2-1 in the Illinois Skyway Collegiate (ISCC) Conference by downing visiting Elgin Community College 85-70 Saturday afternoon in Erickson Hall. The Chiefs showed flashes of excellence at times on both ends of the floor.
Waubonsee started the game with a 7-0 run and led 17-10 five minutes into the game. Coach Lance Robinson's Chiefs gradually built their lead to double digits and led by as many as 15 points midway through the half, but could not quite put the Spartans away. Elgin got the deficit back down to seven points on a couple of occasions before a three-pointer from the left corner by Jaylyn Kelley in the final seconds of the half sent the Chiefs to the locker room with a 50-37 lead. The Chiefs took their biggest lead at 69-45 just seven minutes into the second half. But once again Elgin clawed their way to within 10 points at 71-61 with eight minutes to go. Waubonsee maintained a double-digit lead throughout the rest of the second half as they battled to hold off the Spartans (7-8, 1-2). A two-handed tip-dunk by Brice Langford with two minutes to go essentially sealed the deal, putting the Chiefs in front 83-68.
Joey Niesman led Waubonsee's offense with 19 points, five assists, three steals and five rebounds. Kelley finished with 15 points and six assists, connecting on three shots from beyond the arc. Traevon Brown gave Waubonsee a third player in double figures with 14 points to go along with six assists and two steals. Langford nearly joined the trio as he booked nine points, while hauling down 14 rebounds as he just missed out on posting a double-double. Marco Wilson chipped in with eight points and six boards off the bench for Waubonsee.
The Chiefs are in action again next Tuesday, January 18 when they travel to Crystal Lake to take on McHenry County College beginning at 7:15 p.m. (CDT). Waubonsee returns home to Sugar Grove on Thursday, January 20 to host Prairie State College in another ISCC match-up. Due to the local community's increasing cases of COVID-19, no spectators are allowed at any Waubonsee athletic events through January 30. The game can be seen live-streamed at https://vimeo.com/waubonseeathletics. A listing of upcoming events and athletics information is at www.gochiefs.com.