(Sugar Grove, IL.) – Waubonsee Community College men's basketball team put its' lengthy winning streak on the line Thursday evening in Erickson Hall Gymnasium. The Chiefs, the early front runners in the Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference (ISCC), got all they could handle and more from visiting Morton College before pulling out an 88-79 victory in an intense battle. The 23rd ranked Chiefs (15-1, 2-0) extended their winning streak to 15 games with the hard-fought triumph over the Panthers (7-8, 1-1), arguably the second-best team in the ISCC thus far. Waubonsee is tied nationally with five other schools for the most wins among all NJCAA Division II teams. They include top-ranked North Central Missouri College (15-0), second-ranked Kirkwood (IA) Community College (15-1), seventh-ranked Des Moines Area (IA) Community College (15-2), ninth-ranked Ellsworth (IA) Community College (15-2) and 11th ranked SUNY Niagara (NY) College (15-2).
Neither team scored in the opening two minutes of action until Morton's Adrian Anderson snuck down the lane for a lay-up. However, Waubonsee Zachariah Hayslett answered only seconds later as he got ahead and above the crowd for a two-handed slam to get the Chiefs on the board. Morton built a 10-4 lead before Pat Robinson connected on a three-pointer from the right corner. The Panthers responded and went back in front by eight points. Two minutes later Hayslett found Tylon Toliver cutting to the basket and he completed a three-point play to get Waubonsee within two at 15-13 five minutes into the game. A short time later Christian Meeks buried a three-pointer to knot the score at 20-all after eight minutes of play. A relentless Meeks scored on a put back moments later to give the Chiefs their first lead. Malik Petty then drained a long three-pointer to put the Chiefs in front 27-20 at the midway point of the half.
A long triple from well beyond the top of the key by Tim Taiwo at the seven-minute mark pushed the Chiefs' lead to double figures at 34-23. After a Morton timeout the Panthers bounced back and cut the deficit to 36-32 just two minutes later. But Waubonsee again answered and went back in front by double figures at 43-33 when Meeks completed a three-point play. A triple by Robinson and a transition lay-up by Toliver suddenly highlighted a 12-1 run and extended the lead to 48-33 with just under two minutes to go until halftime. Once again, the Panthers called timeout and responded after the halt in play with two quick baskets as the final minute of the half approached. A drive down the lane and an off balance left-handed lay-in by Hayslett sent the Chiefs to the locker room with a 51-37 lead. Waubonsee finished the half shooting 66 percent (19 of 29) from the floor and went 8 of 10 from the foul line to offset nine turnovers.
The pivotal first five minutes of the second half was a completely different story. In stark contrast the Chiefs seemingly couldn't buy a basket when the second half commenced. Waubonsee went scoreless over the initial five minutes of the half as the Panthers reeled off 12 straight unanswered points to pull within 51-49. The lay-in by Hayslett off a feed from Meeks finally broke the drought. A minute later a three-point play by Petty gave the Chiefs a little breathing room. However, it didn't last long as Dre Nobles hit a trey to put Morton ahead 57-56 with 12 minutes to go. Robinson answered with a high arching three of his own as Waubonsee regained the lead. Anderson then made a fade away bucket from the right corner to knot things at 59 as the intense battle headed into the final 10 minutes of play.
A minute later James Parker made an off-balance left-handed scoop shot and was fouled, completing the three-point play to put the Chiefs up 66-61. The freshman guard from Metea Valley High School then drilled a triple on the next trip down the court to stake Waubonsee to a 69-63 lead with 8:40 to go. Anderson, the Panther's point guard, picked up his fourth foul as Morton's offense began to sputter. Another big three by Robinson quickly followed by a power move inside for another bucket by Meeks made it 74-63 with seven minutes left. Waubonsee led by as many as 13 points as the five-minute mark approached. Morton cut the deficit down to eight points before a Toliver trey made it an 11-point lead for the Chiefs. Again, the Panthers continued to fight and cut Waubonsee's lead to 83-77 with two minutes remaining after Jordan Brooks made a pair of free throws. After a Chiefs' timeout Meeks scored inside as the shot clock wound down to again make it a three-possession game. Meeks then made the second of two free throw attempts with 0:47 left as Morton appeared to runout of gas. A pair of free throws by Hayslett essentially secured the victory with 0:33 to go.
Meeks was a force for Waubonsee all game and finished with a double-double, scoring 23 points and grabbing 10 rebounds to go along with three assists and two steals. Robinson hot four baskets from beyond the arc on the way to netting 18 points. Hayslett added 14 points, while Toliver came off the bench to score 10 points and hand out three assists. Parker also contributed 10 points and dished out five assists to help the Chiefs' reserves out score Morton's bench 26-6. Waubonsee is in action again next Tuesday, January 14 when they host the College of Lake County. Tipoff between the Chiefs and Lancers is set for 7:15 p.m. (CDT). The women's teams are scheduled to start at 5:15 p.m. that evening.
