(Sugar Grove, IL) – Coming off of a tough, last-second 80-78 road loss at McHenry County College on Tuesday, Waubonsee Community College men's basketball team needed a win to stay in the race for the Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference (ISCC) title. The Chiefs (10-4, 3-2) got just that by holding off visiting Prairie State College for a 91-84 win on Thursday evening.
The Pioneers (8-10, 3-2) scored the first seven points of the game in the opening minute, prompting head coach Lance Robinson to call timeout. The Chiefs regrouped and then immediately responded. Cooper Larsen scored on a drive to the basket, Brice Langford scored on a short shot in the lane, Joey Niesman buried a three-pointer from the right corner and was fouled, completing a rare four-point play, and Marco Wilson converted a pair of free throws to suddenly give Waubonsee a 10-7 lead. From that point on the teams battled back and forth until the Chiefs grabbed a 22-15 lead midway through the half.
A pull-up, three-pointer by Traevon Brown a couple minutes later put Waubonsee in front 29-19 as the home team began to take control of the game. The Chiefs worked the ball down low numerous times in the first half to exploit their height advantage, with Larsen and Langford combining for 23 first half points. Waubonsee carried a 46-29 lead into the locker room, their biggest up to that point, after a tip-in by Langford with half a minute left in the period.
A long trey by Niesman to start the second half pushed the Chiefs' lead to 20 points, but that was as big as Waubonsee's lead would get. A two-handed slam by the 6'10" Langford midway through the second half helped Waubonsee maintain its double-digit lead. However, the scrappy Pioneers clawed their way back within 11 points on several occasions in the final seven minutes. Each time it seemed that either Brown, Langford or Niesman responded with a clutch basket to give the Chiefs breathing room once more.
Prairie State eventually got within seven points at 84-77 with a minute and a half remaining on a three-pointer by Jaylin Brown. Niesman then drove down the lane, spun and dished the ball off to Langford in traffic. The Chiefs' center scored and was fouled, converting the three-point play to push the lead back to double figures with a minute to go and secure the team's 10th win of the season.
Brown led the Chiefs with 26 points, connecting on four shots from beyond the arc. The sophomore guard handed out three assists and recorded three steals, while going 10 for 11 from the foul line. Langford finished with a big double-double, scoring 21 points and hauling down 20 rebounds to go with two blocks and two steals. Niesman booked 19 points and dished out six assists and made five steals. Larsen gave the Chiefs four players in double figures as he contributed 13 points, while Cam Russell snagged seven boards and passed out four assists.
The Chiefs are in action again this coming Sunday, January 23 when they host Aurora University's Junior Varsity in a 1:00 p.m. contest in Erickson Hall Gymnasium. 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.