(Sugar Grove, IL) –Waubonsee Community College overwhelmed visiting McHenry County College with an up tempo attack to pull away late in the first half on the way to a 99-79 victory. The win moved the Chiefs (17-7, 8-5) into fourth place in the Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference (ISCC) standings with one game remaining. The seeding meeting for the Region IV Division II Tournament is set to be held this coming Sunday, at which time the Chiefs will find out when and where they will begin post-season play.
McHenry (14-14, 8-4) opened up the game with a pair of three-point buckets prompting head coach Lance Robinson to call timeout. Traevon Brown then proceeded to nail a long trey and Brice Langford scored inside to get Waubonsee on track. The Scots responded with a 7-0 run to take a 13-5 lead just four minutes into the game. The Chiefs then went on a 7-0 run of their own, to again pull within a point at 13-12. Moments later a reverse lay-in by Cam Russell off a great pass from Brown gave Waubonsee's its first lead 16-15. Langford then powered his way inside for a basket to give the Chiefs an 18-15 lead with 11 minutes left in the half.
Waubonsee began to push the tempo and extended its lead to 24-16 courtesy of fast break baskets by Brown and Russell. The Chiefs lead reached double digits when Russell connected on a long range shot with eight minutes remaining until halftime. McHenry quickly responded with a pair of treys to make it 29-24. Two more transition baskets by Joey Niesman and Russell pushed the lead back to 10 points at 34-24 with six minutes to go until the break. Waubonsee grabbed its biggest lead of the first half when Anthony Thompson buried a three-pointer from the right corner, and Jaylyn Kelley followed with a triple from the left wing to make it 51-33 with a minute left. Langford then capped things off with a two-handed slam in the final seconds of the half as the Chiefs went to the locker room ahead 53-35.
Cooper Larsen scored inside early in the second half to extend Waubonsee's lead to 20 points at 59-39. The Scots got to within 15 points before the Chiefs pushed the lead back to 18 on a one-handed slam by Russell with 13 minutes left in the game. A three-point play by Larsen a minute later put Waubonsee comfortably ahead 69-48. An acrobatic lay-in by Russell midway through the half gave the Chiefs a 73-52 lead. Two minutes later Kelley nailed a shot from beyond the arc and Colton Schutt scored on a reverse lay-up as part of a Chiefs' 10-0 run to give them their biggest lead at 87-60. The closest the Scots would get the rest of the way would be 18 points. Waubonsee's Jordan Smith then capped things off with a three-pointer from the right corner in the final seconds.
The Chiefs finished the game with six players in double figures led by Larsen's 17 points and three steals. Langford booked a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds to go along with three blocks. Brown tallied 13 points and handed out five assists, while Russell also scored 13 points and made four steals. Kelley chipped in with 11 points and dished out four assists, and Niesman rounded out the double-digit group with 10 points to go along with six assists and seven rebounds. Thompson nearly gave Waubonsee seven double-digit scorers as he ended up with nine points and three assists.
The Chiefs close out the regular season this coming Thursday, February 17 when they host Oakton Community College. The ISCC match-up in Erickson Hall Gymnasium is set for 7:15 p.m. 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.