Monroe sends Delaware Tech home with 69-61
March 20, 2009
Danville, IL- Game 11 of the NJCAA DII Men's Basketball National Tournament featured a consolation match-up between Monroe Community College and Delaware Technical and Community College. Monroe won their first round match-up vs. Henry Ford CC, but fell short in the 2nd round to Johnson County CC. Delaware Tech defeated Bismarck State College in the first round to advance, but lost to Phoenix College in the 2nd round. The winner of this game will play the winner of Columbus State CC and Cecil CC on Saturday, March 21 to decide who will finish 5th and 6th place.
The game started off as a close battle. Monroe took the early edge with Jeron Belin scoring their first 6 points of the game. Delaware Tech ran a full-court run-and-jump press, but it didn't seem to cause Monroe too many problems. Milos Petrovic made some strong post moves, scoring 6 early points to keep Delaware Tech in the game. Delaware went on a 7-0 run to claim the 24-19 lead, forcing Monroe Head Coach Jerry Burns to call a timeout. Monroe came out of the timeout in a 2-3 zone which disrupted Delaware's offensive flow. Neither team scored for the next couple minutes, until Delaware Tech found their shooters. Lancelot McDowel found his jumper and hit some big shots to put his team up 32-23 at halftime.
1ST HALF LEADERS FOR MONROE:
Jeron Belin, 6'7" Soph, 8 pts
Kareem Brown, 6'2" Soph, 4 pts
Jeremy Hunter, 6'4" Soph, 4 pts
1ST HALF LEADERS FOR DELAWARE:
Lancelot McDowell, 6'7" Soph, 11 pts
Rakee Anderson, 5'10" Soph, 6 pts
Milos Petrovic, 6'8" Soph, 6 pts
Monroe went on a big run right away in the second half to reclaim a 4 point lead in the first 6 minutes of the game, which was topped off by 2 3-pointers by Kareem Brown. The 3-pointers gave Brown 11 points in just the opening minutes of the second half. Fortunately for Delaware Tech, they were able to put some points on the board to keep the game close through the midway point of the half. Monroe held the lead for a majority of the game, but never more than 4 points. With less than 3 minutes to play, Delaware was able to take the 60-59 lead, but not for long as Monroe scored on their next trip down the floor. From there, Monroe took control until the final buzzer sounded. Final score: Monroe 69, Delaware Tech 61.
Monroe will now play the winner of Columbus State and Cecil on Saturday, March 21 at 2:00 PM for a 5th or 6th place finish in the tournament. Delaware Tech is now eliminated from the tournament.
GAME LEADERS FOR MONROE:
Kareem Brown, 6'2" Soph, 21 pts
Jeron Belin, 6'7" Soph, 14 pts
Mark Lake Jr., 6'0" Soph, 8 pts
Tim Cokley, 6'4" Soph, 8 pts
GAME LEADERS FOR DELAWARE TECH:
Lancelot McDowell, 6'7" Soph, 13 pts
Edward Frazier, 6'4" Fresh, 11 pts
Rakee Anderson, 5'10" Soph, 10 pts
Milos Petrovic, 6'8" Soph, 10 pts