M-Basketball: Hot Shooting Leads #7 RVC Over Madison College
Box Score With Region IV Tournament seeding on the line, #7 Rock Valley College Men's Basketball managed to pull out a 95-87 victory at Madison College (RV in NJCAA DIII National Poll). With the win, the Golden Eagles finish the regular season 22-8 overall, and 10-4 in N4C play. The win also secured the #1 seed for Rock Valley College in the Region IV Tournament.
In a past paced game from the jump ball, the back and forth action led the visiting Golden Eagles to a 42-37 advantage at halftime. Following the break, the game remained close until a 10-0 run by
Jace Kitchen allowed the Golden Eagles to gain some separation. Kitchen buried a three-point field goal on three straight possessions, with the last one being capped off by with a foul, allowing Kitchen to complete the four-point play. From that point forward, the Golden Eagle offense executed time and again to keep the WolfPack at bay. On the afternoon, RVC was red-hot from the field, shooting 33-60 (55.0%) overall, 12-20 (60%) from three-point range, and 17-24 (70.8%) from the free throw line.
"I thought it was very much a team effort," stated Head Men's Basketball Coach
Evan Lavery. "DeMari (Davis) got in foul trouble early, and
DeAnte Barnes (Belvidere, IL) came in and gave us 8 points and 3 rebounds in the first half. That was huge. Our point guard play was strong. Obviously when you shoot the ball in the manner that we did, you have to credit the execution of our guys. They did a nice job moving the ball and looking for each other. We like where we are at right now, but we need to keep improving. The Region IV Tournament is going to be incredibly tough."
Four Golden Eagles recorded double figure scoring, led by freshman point guard
Malique Ross (Montgomery, IL) with 20 points. Kitchen (DeKalb, IL) added 19 points, while shooting 6-8 from the field and 5-6 from three-point land.
Alec Pena (Rockton, IL) added 17 points while ripping down a game-high 11 rebounds.
Elijah Pappas (Rockford, IL) finished with 14 points.
UP NEXT
The Golden Eagles will take on the winner of #4 Joliet Junior College and #5 Milwaukee Area Technical College in the Region IV Tournament hosted by Rock Valley College. Game time is set for 5 PM in the Physical Education Center.
