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Statesmen upset No. 10 Three Rivers
11/03/11
JOSH BROWN
Sports Editor
Opening games always bring uncertainty for coaches, players and fans alike.
That uncertainty is heightened when 10 of your players are participating in their first college basketball game.
Lincoln Trail College's men's basketball team took the floor Tuesday night for the first time this season and the pieces seemed to fit together pretty well. While it was not the cleanest performance, it was still good enough for the Statesmen to pick up an upset win over 10th-ranked Three Rivers (Mo.) Community College, 71-66.
"To play against that program and get a win is huge," LTC head coach Kevin Emerick said. "That is a rich and storied program and for us to do that after only being here 14 months, it is a credit to the kids, the administration, our fans and our boosters. This was a good win for LTC."
The game started out slowly, as is the case with most opening games. The ragged beginning was compounded by turnovers, lots of fouls and poor shooting on both sides.
"There was no flow to the game," Emerick said. "It was a typical sloppy early game. We have to get better ball security. They forced us into some things we didn't want to do, but we also forced them to do things they didn't want to do."
Both teams struggled at the outset, as the first point wasn't scored until Three Rivers made a free throw at the 18:32 mark. Neither team made a field goal until Three Rivers tossed in a basket with 17:20 remaining to take a 3-0 lead.
Lincoln Trail finally got on the scoreboard when T.J. Grant (South Bend, Ind.) drained a three-point basket to tie the game with 17:02 to play. An 8-2 Three Rivers followed, giving the Raiders an 11-5 lead with 14:39 left, but the Statesmen followed with a 10-3 run of their own to take a 15-14 lead with 9:36 to go.
Three Rivers countered with an 8-1 spree to take a 22-16 lead with 6:11 left, but a 12-4 burst by the Statesmen, which included a pair of three-pointers by Rob Reed (South Bend, Ind.) and three points from Jason Jordan (South Bend, Ind.), gave LTC a 28-26 edge, with 13.9 seconds remaining, by a jumper by TRCC's Elgin Lee just before the buzzer tied the game - 28-28 - at halftime.
In the second half, the teams traded baskets for the first two minutes until Teddy Maris (Indianapolis, Ind.) buried a three-pointer to put Lincoln Trail on top, 35-34, with 18:04 remaining.
A five-point Three Rivers run followed to give them a 39-35 lead at the 17:00 mark and would extend their lead to six, 50-44, with 12:12 left in the game.
The Statesmen answered with two free throws by Maris, a three-pointer from Reed and a free throw by Jordan to tie the game at 50-50 with 9:44 to play.
After a free throw by Three Rivers, Jordan made a layup to put LTC back in front, 52-51, with 9:22 left to play.
The lead would change hands four times in the next two minutes, but Lincoln Trail would take the lead for good on a tip-in by Reed with 7:23 to play, giving the Statesmen a 56-55 edge. That was the start of a 6-0 run by LTC, giving them a 60-55 lead with 5:55 to play.
A basket by Three Rivers made the score 60-57 with 4:09 to play, but the Statesmen would score five points from the free throw line to give themselves a 65-57 advantage with 2:16 to play.
Lincoln Trail still held a 67-60 advantage with 43.4 seconds remaining, but a free throw by Three Rivers, a putback of a missed free throw and a banked-in three-pointer sandwiched around one made free throw by Jordan closed the gap to 68-66 with 11.7 seconds left. Following the banked-in three-pointer, Reed made two free throws with 10.6 seconds left for a 70-66 lead, then Maris added one with 4.4 seconds left after Three Rivers missed two free tosses on their previous possession, sealing the win for the Statesmen.
"The last five minutes we controlled the tempo and controlled them a little better and that was the difference in the game," Emerick said. "Our effort was really good. We played with some heart and that's what we want our teams to do."
For the game, Lincoln Trail shot 21-63 from the field (33 percent), including 13-36 (36 percent) from two-point range and 8-27 (30 percent) from three-point territory. Three Rivers, meanwhile, made 25-67 shots from the floor (37 percent), which included a 23-57 performance from inside the arc (40 percent) and a 2-10 effort (20 percent) from long range. Both teams struggled at the free throw line, but Lincoln Trail made a few more (21-35) than Three Rivers (14-28) and that proved to be the difference.
Three Rivers outrebounded Lincoln Trail, 59-39, but the Statesmen offest that by forcing 27 Three Rivers turnovers, while committing just 19 - including only six in the second half.
Individually, Reed paced the Statesmen with a game-high 24 points, along with three rebounds and three steals. Jordan posted 13 points, seven rebounds, four steals and two assists, Maris netted nine points, three assists, two rebounds and two steals, Jacob Frazier (Niles, Mich.) contributed six points, five rebounds, one steal, one assist and one blocked shots, Grant totaled six points, four assists, three steals and two rebounds, Mike Anderson (Bloomfield, Conn.) added four points, five rebounds, two steals and one assist, Isaac Wodajo (Milwaukee, Wisc) had four points and five rebounds, Christian Jugah (Lagos, Nigeria) had two points, three blocked shots and two rebounds, Angelo Williams (South Bend, Ind.) had two points and three rebounds and Ilyas Salsanov (Minsk, Belarus) scored one point.
"Rob is a really talented kid and is not limited in any way physically," Emerick said. "He shot it well early and got us going. Jason was too pumped up early and couldn't get settled down. His motor is so big and once he channels that, he will be really good. Christian gave us some good minutes off the bench and if he keeps doing that, he will really help us down the road. Teddy had an off night shooting, but he will get better. I also saw some real athleticism and what we are capable of with Mike Anderson, Rob and Jason dominating the game with their physical play."
Tarius Johnson led Three Rivers with 15 points and 15 rebounds, while Lee netted 13 points, four assists and three rebounds and Bobby Peebles, Jr. had 11 points, five rebounds and four steals.
Overall, Emerick was pleased with what he saw from his team in their first time out.
"This was a learning game for us and we will use this tape going forward," Emerick said. "But it is nice to be able to win while you are learning. We have got some tough games coming up and this win should give the kids some confidence in our system and themselves."
Before the game, a moment of silence was taken in honor of Richard Bollinger, longtime LTC assistant baseball coach and athletics booster, who died Monday.
"Coach B was one of the nicest people I have met since I have been here," Emerick said. "I didn't know him as well as a lot of people here, but he was always very courteous to us and supportive of us. It is a big loss to the community."
Lincoln Trail (1-0) will play host to Summitt Christian Academy Friday at 7 p.m. The Statesmen will also play host to Summitt Christian on Sunday for a 3 p.m. contest.
At Lincoln Trail College, Robinson
Three Rivers CC 28 38 - 66
Lincoln Trail College 28 43 - 71
THREE RIVERS (66)
Elgin Lee 5-10 1-4 0-3 13, Donnell Minnis 3-6 0-0 1-2 7, Gerry Smith, Jr. 1-5 0-0 2-4 4, Jordan McGowan 0-0 0-4 0-0 0, Bobby Peebles, Jr. 5-8 0-1 1-2 11, Tarius Johnson 3-13 1-1 6-11 15, Ibrahim Djambo 0-5 0-0 0-0 0, Ignas Palaima 2-3 0-0 3-4 7, Rudy Harrell 4-7 0-0 1-2 9, TOTALS 23-57 2FG, 2-10 3FG, 14-28 FT, 66 TP.
LINCOLN TRAIL (71)
Mike Anderson 1-2 0-3 2-4 4, Ilyas Salsanov 0-0 0-2 1-2 1, T.J. Grant 1-5 1-2 1-4 6, Rob Reed 4-6 4-7 4-5 24, Teddy Maris 0-1 2-5 3-4 9, Angelo Williams 1-3 0-0 0-0 2, Delvon Brown 0-1 0-1 0-0 0, Jason Jordan 2-6 0-0 9-14 13, Isaac Wodajo 0-2 1-4 1-2 4, Drew Morecraft 0-0 0-1 0-0 0, Errol Townsend 0-1 0-0 0-0 0, Christian Jugah 1-3 0-0 0-0 2, Jacob Frazier 3-6 0-0 0-0 6, TOTALS 13-36 2FG, 8-27 3FG, 21-35 FT, 71 TP.
Turnovers - TRCC 27, LTC 19. Team fouls - TRCC 26, LTC 24. Technical foul - none. Fouled out - Johnson. Rebounds - (TRCC 59) Johnson 15, Harrell 11, Djambo 8, Palaima 6. (LTC 39) Jordan 7, Anderson 5, Frazier 5, Wodajo 5, Williams 3, Reed 3, Grant 2, Maris 2, Morecraft 2, Townsend 2, Jugah 2, Brown. Steals - (TRCC 7) Peebles, Jr. 4, Harrell 2, Minnis. (LTC 15) Jordan 4, Grant 3, Reed 3, Anderson 2, Maris 2, Frazier. Assists - (TRCC 6) Lee 4, Smith, Jr. 2. (LTC 11) Grant 4, Maris 3, Jordan 2, Anderson, Frazier. Blocked shots - (TRCC 7) Smith, Jr. 4, Djambo 3. (LTC 4) Jugah 3, Frazier.
Next game - Lincoln Trail (1-0) will play host to Summitt Christian Academy Friday at 7 p.m.
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