Men’s basketball wins at nationals
Published on March 20, 2019
The Cecil College men’s basketball team came out fired up in the first round of the NJCAA Division II National Tournament against Pima Community College on Tuesday in Danville, Ill., en route to an 81-72 victory.
The Seahawks jumped out to an 11-2 lead in the opening five minutes. But this lead was not to last as the Pima squad came back strong to trail 31-29 at the half. Key to the Seahawks’ victory was turnovers as Cecil gave up the ball just eight times while forcing Pima to commit 21 turnovers.
In the second half, the score went back-and-forth with Pima holding a six-point lead at one time. The Seahawks rallied to regain the lead and the deciding basket with 3:48 remaining was a three-point bomb by Hassan Corbin. Cecil worked to slow the game and eat up the clock following this basket.
Leading the Seahawks in scoring was North East native Jacob Falko with 25 points. He was 12-for-12 from the free throw line while going eight-of-14 from the floor that included three baskets from beyond the arc.
Also hitting double figures was Cornell Corbin with 13 points to go with his ten rebounds. Skylier Ringgold also tallied 14 points along with seven rebounds as Hassan Corbin and Darell Johnson added nine points each. Ringgold also had seven rebounds while Hassan Corbin fought for nine.
The Seahawks will play the winner of Wednesday’s game between St. Clair County College and John Wood College. The Seahawks game is Thursday at 6 p.m. (CST).