By Rob Potter
DELHI — March 16, 2010 — The second game of the 2010 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division III Men’s Basketball National Championship Tournament was much better for the Sullivan County Community College (SCCC) Generals.
Approximately 24 hours after losing its opening game of the tournament in the Floyd L. Maines Arena in the Clark Field House on the campus of SUNY Delhi, SCCC rebounded with a 74-71 win over the Mountain View (Texas) Community College Lions.
After being down by five points at halftime and by 13 points at 51-38 with 13:00 remaining in the game, SCCC (32-2) rallied for the victory. At the 10:23 mark, SCCC’s Evan Pope scored under the basket to bring his team within two points at 56-54.
Just 17 seconds later, Dwayne Wade converted a basket in the lane to even the score at 56-56.
Moses Dayee gave the Generals the lead for good at 61-58 by swishing a 3-point shot with 8:42 to go.
The Lions clawed to within a point at 72-71 with 1:45 left when Rashad Sample made a 3-pointer.
But Dayee sealed the Generals’ win by converting a pair of foul shots with 4.4 seconds remaining.
Dayee made five 3-pointers on his way to registering a game-high 26 points.
Sophomore guards Geraldo Fernandez and Dwayne Wade recorded 14 points apiece for the Generals. Pope finished the game with 10 points.
“It was a good bounce back for us,” SCCC Coach Kevin DeVantier said. “We just played better basketball today.
“It’s a group effort,” he added. “With Terry [Coleman] out with his injury, everybody has to step up even more.
“We played very well defensively,” DeVantier said.
A trio of players scored in double digits to pace the Lions. Kevin Thomas led the way with 18 points, Kenny DeMouchet had 14 points and Jeromie Ayisire netted 13 points.
“We just weren’t able to match their intensity level throughout the game,” Mountain View Coach Leroi Philip said.