(Sugar Grove, IL) – Waubonsee Community College's men's basketball team saw its' six-game winning streak come to an end as visiting Moraine Valley Community College registered a 74-70 win on Tuesday evening in a crucial Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference (ISCC) match-up. The Cyclones (19-5, 8-1), who entered the night tied for first place in the ISCC standings with Prairie State College, made eight free throws down the stretch to pull out the road victory. The Chiefs (17-7, 5-4), who lost to the Cyclones 92-78 in Palos Hills on January 12, needed a victory to stay in the hunt for an ISCC title. However, Waubonsee let an 11-point lead slip away over the final 10 minutes of the game. In the second half the Chiefs shot just 31 percent from the floor overall and went 4 of 18 (22 percent) from three-point range.
Waubonsee got on the board first as Melo Garrick scored inside shortly after winning the opening tip-off. Joey Niesman then made a steal and scored in transition to give the Chiefs a quick 4-0 lead. A driving lay-in by Duane Doss two and half minutes into the game put Waubonsee in front 11-1 to force Cyclones' head coach John Chappetto to call timeout. Moraine Valley then regrouped and put together a 15-4 run to grab a 16-15 lead after eight minutes of action. A minute later Niesman made a move to the basket, hesitated to fake his defender and then drove to the basket for a lay-up to give Waubonsee a 19-16 lead midway through the first half.
The teams traded baskets over the next four minutes of play until Niesman connected on a pull-up, 12-foot jumper to give the Chiefs a 25-21 lead. Moments later Niesman snagged an offensive rebound and in midair threw a pass out to Jaylyn Kelley at the top of the key where he quickly buried a three-pointer for a seven-point lead. An 18-foot jumper by Colton Schutt and a three-pointer by Niesman extended Waubonsee's lead to 38-27 with two minutes left in the half. An offensive rebound and putback basket by J. Caleb Slawinski pushed the Chiefs' advantage up to 13 points in the final half minute before the half ended with Waubonsee in front 40-29.
The Chiefs went scoreless for nearly five minutes at the start of the second half allowing the Cyclones to cut the deficit to three points. Waubonsee finally broke the seal on the rim when Niesman corralled an offensive rebound and dished off to Kelley for a lay-in. A three-pointer from the right corner by Schutt a minute later seemed to energize the Chiefs as they went back in front 45-37. Kelley followed with another trey from the same spot on the court a moment later to push the lead back up to double digits.
Moraine Valley cut the Chiefs' lead down to four points before Niesman drilled a shot from beyond the arc with 11 minutes remaining in the game. A minute later the Cyclones cut the lead to two points at 51-49 as Waubonsee tried to hold off the league leaders. Moraine Valley finally regained the lead at 54-53, their first since the 12-minute mark of the first half, on a close in basket by Trace Williams. The lead changed hands six times over the next seven minutes of play as the game went back and forth. The Cyclones grabbed a three-point lead before Slawinski scored on a short one-handed shot in the lane to get the home team within a point with three minutes left.
A pair of free throws put Moraine Valley in front by three once again before Schutt was fouled with 2:16 to go. The sophomore nailed both charity tosses to get the Chiefs to within 66-65. However, Enari Thomas nailed a clutch 18-foot jumper to make it a three-point game once more. The teams traded baskets before Williams made the second of two free throws to make it 71-67 with a minute to go. A key blocked shot by Moraine Valley's Anthony Taylor and a pair of missed three-point shots by Waubonsee allowed the Cyclones to extend their lead to six points with 0:14 remaining. However, after a Chiefs' timeout Doss then drilled a long three-pointer to make it a three-point game with 0:10 left. Thomas then made one of two free throws to complete the scoring.
Niesman booked a triple-double to lead the Chiefs effort. The sophomore guard from Oswego High School finished the night with 20 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. Doss chipped in with 14 points, while Kelley added 11 points and Brice Langford tallied 10 points. Thomas led the Cyclones' balanced attack with 17 points, while Williams ended the game with 15 points and 12 rebounds, and Taylor also contributed a double-double with 11 points and 14 boards.
Waubonsee travels to McHenry County College for another ISCC battle on Thursday, February 9 to square off against the Scots in Crystal Lake. The Chiefs then return home on Saturday, February 11 for an afternoon matinee against Wright College from Chicago with tip-off scheduled for 3:00 p.m. The women's game is set to begin at 1:00 p.m.