Survive and advance.
That was the final words from TVCC head coach Mark Leslie following the Cardinals 96-91 victory over the Brunswick Community College Dolphins Monday at the NJCAA National Basketball Tournament in Hutchinson, Kan.
"They were a really good shooting team and we already knew that coming in," Leslie said. "They almost doubled their three-point output per game on the year. You go out and the underdog comes out fighting, and they did just that. We have to tip our caps to them and say they played hard. In tournament play, it is win and survive and it doesn't have to be pretty.
TVCC faces the No. 8-seed Cowley Tigers (21-4) at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in the second round of the tournament. The Tigers have won 12 straight games and scored over 100 points in the last five contest.
"It will be the toughest test of the season," Leslie said. "We have not played a team like that and it will be a similar test. We will need to go out and feel what that pressure will be like and adjust to it. You can't simulate it any other way and I look forward to it. It will be a tough game and we don't want anything else."
No. 9-seed TVCC (23-2) trailed 52-45 at halftime to the No. 24-seed Dolphins as Brunswick shot 52.6 percent from the field. The Dolphins were 11-of-18 from behind the arc as Christian Koonce led the way going 5-for-7. He had a team high 15 points in the first half.
"Christian has been a spark for us," Brunswick coach Walter Shaw said. "We put him in the starting lineup about mid year and him and Reese McDonald has been big for us. Those guys have been solid for us and we didn't get the production out of Jalen Johnson, but you win some and you lose some."
Leslie said during the halftime chat, the team focused on how to stop the hot shooting of the Dolphins even though the Dolphins went 51.7 percent in the second half.
"Our guys took them more serious in the second half," Leslie said. "It was hard to tell them and show them how hard the team was in shooting and pushing the ball up the court. We tried to show them and tell them, but it is nothing like seeing it in person. Once they saw it, they came back out in the second half and respected them more."
TVCC went on a 13-6 run to open the second half as Dashawn Davis tied the game at 68 with a 3-pointer with about 16 minutes remaining. Davis finished the night with 35 points, six rebounds, seven assists and four steals.
"I know he can do a game like today when we need him," Leslie said. "I would like for other guys to step up a little more and not make our team such an easier team to stop. Everybody knows that Dashawn could go for 30 points and it is easier to stop him."
Davis scored his final points of the game with 27 seconds left nailing two free throws for the 94-89 lead.
"I thought we took No. 23 (Trevon Fuller) out of it and the big boy is what he is in (Anderson) Mirambeaux," Shaw said. "We made Davis make tough shots and dish out assists, and if it wasn't for him we would have beat them. We had to live with it and he was big for them."
The Cardinals wrapped up the scoring on a dunk by Tuongthach Gathek with 23 seconds remaining for the 96-91 finale.
Darry Moore finished the night with 14 points and eight rebounds off the bench, while Fuller had 13 points to wrap up the double figure scoring.
Brunswick Dolphins (15-4) was led by Koonce with 24 points, Reese McDonald with 20 and Josiah Shackleford with 17.
"We came out and played our game and that is what we do," Shaw said. "We knew they didn't want to play a fast game with us and that is what we do. We had some turnovers down the stretch and some missed free throws and (Dashawn) Davis is the real deal."
BRUNSWICK (91) – Reese McDonald 20, Davier Dixon 2, Christian Koonce 24, Brandon Johnson 8, Jerrian Hancock 8, Cameron Lawson 2, Jalen Johnson 3, Deante Petree 4, Josiah Shackleford 17, Skyler Davies 3.
TVCC (96) – Sofara Rasas 7, Jakevion Buckley 7, Dashawn Davis 35, Anderson Mirambeaux 7, Darry Moore 14, Lathaniel Bastian 5, Tuongthach Gathek 8, Trevon Fuller 13.
(Story courtesy Joe Elerson/Athens Review)
