Elgin CC will play for NJCAA Division III championship
ROCHESTER, Minn. - What a difference a day made for the Elgin Community College men's basketball team at the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III National Tournament.
One day after pouring in 82 points during the tournament-opening win over Brookdale, offense was much harder to come by in round two.
The Spartans turned to solid defense and just enough offense in a 57-42 win over the Herkimer County (NY) Community College Generals in the semifinal round.
The second-seeded Spartans (31-5) will take on No. 5 seed North Lake CC of Irving, Texas at 7 p.m. Saturday for the national championship. This is ECC's first appearance in a national tournament. North Lake (21-11) upset No. 1 seed Anoka-Ramsey of Coon Rapids, Minn., 54-52 in Friday's second semifinal.
It looked like the Spartans were going to score points Friday on a pace equal to the night before. Elgin jumped out to a 7-0 lead with 16:33 left in the first half, but it only added 17 more by halftime.
"We don't see a lot of (2-3) zone defenses like that," said Spartans coach Reed Nosbisch, "and their defense was very good. It was active, they're quick, and fairly long. We were struggling shooting the basketball, unlike (Thursday), and we didn't have a lot of confidence on the offensive end."
The Generals' defense was very good, but the Spartans' defense was equally stifling. Elgin led the game 24-13 at halftime. The Spartan defense held Herkimer County to 18 percent shooting in the first half (5 for 27), including 1 of 11 from beyond the 3-point line (18 percent.)
"I planned on playing some zone tonight," Nosbisch said, "but we never went to zone once tonight. What we were doing was enough. They're a very good offensive rebounding team and we held them to 10 offensive rebounds. We put a body on people and boxed them out. We also had Homer (Denson), who had 18 rebounds."
While point production did pick up in the second half for both teams, when the Generals were gearing up to get the game close, the Spartans got big shots from several different players. Jordan Anderson had a couple big treys in the first half. Demetrious Roumbos hit a big 3 from the right wing late in the second half. Point guard Charles Sanders had a big 3-point play late in the game to help the Spartans get the win.
"Everybody has an offensive game on our team," Sanders said, "with a lot of people able to create for themselves and for others as well. If someone creates for you, then you make sure and create (shots) for them later on."
Despite a tough shooting night overall (35 percent), the Spartans still put four players in double figures. Denson completed his double-double with 16 points. Sanders had 13, Juwan Stewart added 12, and Anderson added 11.
Shortly after the Friday night win, it still hadn't quite sunk in at that point that they were going for a national championship.
"Not really," Sanders said while laughing. "I'm blessed to be in this position. This is way better than I pictured coming into college. Coming back home (to Elgin) was the best decision I've ever made."
Nosbisch, a former Spartan himself, said his team did what it was needed to do coming into the tournament as the No. 2 Seed.
"We're there," he said. "We've gotten to where we are supposed to be."