(Sugar Grove, IL) – A back and forth battle between the top two teams in the Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference (ISCC) standings went down to the wire before a raucous crowd on Tuesday evening in Erickson Hall Gymnasium. Waubonsee Community College's men's basketball team pulled out an 84-79 win over Moraine Valley Community College by making eight straight free throws down the stretch. Overall the 11th ranked Chiefs (19-2, 6-0) connected on 22 of 31 (71 percent) from the foul line to knock off the Cyclones (5-2, 11-9) in a game that featured 15 lead changes.
Neither team scored in the opening minute of the contest. David Robinson then got the Chiefs on the scoreboard with a three-pointer from the left corner for a 3-2 Waubonsee lead. Back-to-back jumpers by Reece Boyd then staked the Chiefs to a 9-6 lead four minutes into the game. A short time later Moraine Valley's Javonte McKenzie sank a three from the left corner to put the Cyclones in front as the game went back and forth. The game remained tightly contested over the next several minutes of action. The Cyclones clung to a 20-18 lead after a short, running one-hander in the lane by Waubonsee's Donovan Brown as the midway point of the first half approached.
Moraine Valley led by as many as six points before Robinson finally converted a put-back basket on his fourth try after fighting for three straight offensive rebounds to give the Chiefs a 25-24 lead with eight minutes left in the half. Waubonsee's aggressive offensive attack got the Cyclones in a little foul trouble as the half wound down. The Chiefs were able to take advantage at the foul line and gradually build a 31-24 lead with five minutes to go until halftime. Waubonsee led by as many as eight points before the Cyclones battled back to pull within 40-38 at the break on a last second put back by Frank DeCarlo.
Moraine Valley's Luis Acevedo nailed a three-pointer to start the second half and put the Cyclones back in front. The visitors again led by as many as six points on two different occasions early in the second half before baskets by Brown and an eight-foot turnaround jumper by Fernando Perez got the Chiefs within two points. A minute later a flagrant foul on the Cyclones seemed to be a turning point with Perez making a pair of free throws to make it a one-point game at 52-51. Duane Doss then put the Chiefs in the lead with a driving lay-up, and Perez grabbed a rebound and went coast-to-coast for a lay-in to give Waubonsee a three-point lead with 12 minutes to go. Two minutes later the Cyclones regained the lead 58-57 until Perez swished a triple from the left wing.
The lead changed hands several times over the next couple minutes of play with Moraine Valley clinging to a 66-64 lead with seven minutes remaining. The Cyclones still led by two with five minutes to go after Perez made a nice interior pass to Robinson for an easy bucket. Doss then drained a three-pointer on the next trip down the court to give Waubonsee the lead again. However, Moraine Valley knotted the score at 73 with three minutes to go. Brown then connected on a clutch three-pointer as the shot clock wound down, with the ball rattling around before falling through.
After a pair of misfires by the Cyclones, Waubonsee clung to a 76-75 lead with 0:45 remaining. Doss was fouled on an attempted put back with 0:29 left and proceeded to sink a pair of foul shots to make it 78-75. Moraine Valley quickly pushed the ball up the court but once again their shot was off the mark. Another Cyclones' foul sent Brown to the line where he converted two more foul shots with 0:22 to go. Brown then answered a Moraine Valley free throw with two of his own with 0:16 remaining to give Waubonsee a six-point lead. Perez hit two more free throws with 0:05 left before a Cyclones' three-pointer at the buzzer accounted for the final score.
Doss finished with 22 points to lead the Chiefs in scoring. The 5'10" point guard also snagged 13 rebounds and handed out five assists. Brown booked 20 points, while Perez added 17 points and eight boards. Enari Thomas paced the Cyclones with a game-high 27 points. Coach Lance Robinson's Chiefs are in action again this coming Thursday, February 1, when they travel to Crystal Lake to take on McHenry County College. Waubonsee returns home to Erickson Hall Gymnasium this coming Saturday, February 3, when they host Wright College in a 2:00 p.m. (CDT) contest.