by Steve Carpenter (HCC Sports Information)
Held to a season-low offensive output by a stingy Georgia Highlands defense, the No. 23-ranked and sixth-seeded Hutchinson Community College men’s basketball team saw its season close on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the 2015 NJCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament at the Sports Arena.
Cinderella Georgia Highlands eliminated the Blue Dragons 64-59. The Chargers advance to Friday’s second national semifinal against No. 2 Northwest Florida State.
The Region VI champion Blue Dragons end their season at 29-7. The 29 wins tie for the seventh most wins in Blue Dragon basketball history. The 36 games played tie for the fifth most played in a season.
Hutchinson couldn’t find any answers against Georgia Highland’s defense. HCC was held 22 points under its 81.2 point-per-game average and 11 points fewer than the previous season low. HCC turned the ball over 23 times and was 19 of 30 from the free-throw line. For the first time this season, the Blue Dragons were held without a 3-point basket, the first time that’s happened in 94 games.
“Georgia Highlands is very good defensive ball club,” HCC head coach Steve Eck said. “The can really guard and they took us out of our offense and for most of the second half. They can guard without fouling and they locked us up. Give them credit.”
HCC played good enough defense to win. Normally a 43 percent shooting team for the season, the Blue Dragons held the Chargers to 30.5 percent shooting. Down the stretch, though, the Chargers had the answer to every Hutchinson challenge.
Austin Budke’s layup with 8:08 remaining tied the game at 40-40, but Highland guard Ty Toney answered with a 3-pointer on the next possession the Georgia Highlands – the No. 19th seed has knocked off No. 14 Butler, No. 3 College of Southern Idaho and No. 6 Hutchinson by a grand total of eight points in three games – a lead it never relinquished it again.
Sophomore forward DeShawn Freeman closed his Blue Dragon career with his 17th double-double of the season and 19th of his career, leading Hutchinson with 22 points and 13 rebounds on 9 of 13 shooting. Freeman finished 19th on Hutchinson’s career scoring list with 935 points.
“We fought hard as a team,” Freeman said. “We’ve been through a lot as a team.”
Freshman Bashier Ahmed was the only other Blue Dragon to reach double figures with 14 points and five rebounds. Akbar Hoffman finished with nine points and Budke closed with six points.
The Blue Dragons shot 20 of 55 (36.4 percent), going 0 of 7 from the 3-point line. The Blue Dragons out-rebounded Georgia Highlands 47-37,
Montrel Goldston had 16 points to lead the Chargers (30-6). Terrence Thompson had 13 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. Toney finished with 15 points and Doniel Dean had 11 points, going 7 of 8 from the free-throw line.
“Watching the first game of the tournament on Monday, you could tell that the tournament is called a bit differently than any other game.” Budke said. “I really like those kinds of games. They were physical. We are physical. We are two teams with big people that went at it.”
The result of Hutchinson’s first six possessions was an ominous sign as HCC had six turnovers. The Blue Dragons finally got on the board at the 14:55 mark with a Keanu Pinder dunk and took a 4-3 lead with a Freeman layup. HCC’s defense held Highlands scoreless for 6 minutes, 29 seconds, but couldn’t create any significant separation, leading only 7-3 with 13:29 to play in the half.
After one of five Pinder dunks in the first half, Freeman converted in transition on the other end to build a 21-16 lead with 4:02 remaining. That was Hutchinson’s final field goal of the first half. A Hoffman free throw with 1:21 remaining tied the game at 23, but Thompson had a tip-in right at the first-half buzzer, which was confirmed by video replay, and Highlands led 25-23 at halftime.
The 23 points scored in the first half were a Blue Dragon season low.
Four straight points by Ahmed out of the second-half chute gave Hutchinson a 27-25 lead, but Georgia Highland’s defense again didn’t allow the Blue Dragons to gain any momentum or build separation.
“We made some mistakes and we just couldn’t get a big stop,” Eck said. “We held them to 30 percent shooting. We missed 11 free throws and they missed two. You have to make your free throws.”
Trailing 31-29, Freeman had a dunk and layup 14 second apart to give HCC a 33-31 lead. The lead grew to four after two Hoffman free throws. Highlands answered with a 9-0 run over the next 3:36 to build a 40-35 lead with 9:34 remaining. Freeman converted a three-points play and Budke scored to knot the game at 40-40 with 8:08 to play.
Toney’s 3-pointer 12 seconds later gave Highlands a 43-40 lead. A Thompson score with 6:22 to go pushed the lead to two possessions and grew to seven at 54-47 with 3:34 to go after a Goldston layup. HCC got the game back to three points twice, but the Chargers made the plays down the stretch to eliminate the Blue Dragons in the quarterfinals for the first time in 10 winner’s bracket quarterfinal appearances.
“Making it to the tournament is a big accomplishment,” Budke said. “We got a win and were one of the final eight teams in. The hit some shots at the end and had the ball roll their way. If it goes our way, it’s a different game. We went out as a team and played hard.”
GAME NOTES – HCC is 41-23 in 18 NJCAA Tournament appearances. … Georgia Highlands is the 50th different opponents the Blue Dragons have played in the national tournament. … Both Keanu Pinder and Moataz Aly had five blocked shots to lead HCC’s 12 blocks in the game. … Pinder jumped up to No. 6 on the HCC single-season blocks list with 68. … The 2015 Blue Dragons’ record of blocked shots is at 239 rejections. The Dragons tie for the third most free throws in a season with 752. … This was HCC’s 11th game this season with 20 or more turnovers. … The Dragons are 22-3when out-rebounding an opponent. … The 29 wins tied the 1970, 1983, 1990, 1993 and 1995 teams for the seventh most wins in a season. … HCC’s 38.6 percent defensive field-goal percentage tied for the third lowest by a Blue Dragon team.
(HCC Sports Information)