#18 Bobcats Advance to Semi-Finals
The #18 Bryant & Stratton College men's basketball team opened up the first round of the regional playoffs on Thursday night at home where they defeated the Prairie State College Pioneers 92-61 to move onto the semi-final game...
WAUWATOSA, WI (February 28, 2019) - The #18 Bryant & Stratton College men's basketball team opened up the first round of the regional playoffs on Thursday night at home where they defeated the Prairie State College Pioneers 92-61 to move onto the semi-final game.
The number two seeded Bobcats improved to 24-7 overall while earning their 11th consecutive victory.
Bryant & Stratton cracked the rankings this past week being named the 18th best team in the country in the latest NJCAA poll.
The Bobcats had five players scoring in double figures as freshman guard Justin Brookens led the way with 22 points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals followed by guard Manny Jingco dropping 22 points on 7-14 shooting including 6-10 from beyond the arc.
Freshman guard Mikell Cooper added 15 points, five rebounds, five steals and four assists off of the bench while sophomore guard Joe Duty was just shy of a double-double producing 10 points and nine assists.
Freshman forward Chris Thompson contributed 10 points on 3-6 shooting.
In the opening moments of the first half, it was Thompson who got things rolling early as he knocked down a shot from distance giving the Bobcats their first lead of the game (10-7) with fourteen minutes left in the half.
With just over five minutes remaining before the break, the Bobcats extended their lead to 12 (28-16) after a pull-up jump shot from Brookens.
At the break, Bryant & Stratton remained ahead by double figures as they led Prairie State 36-26.
Over the course of the first 10 minutes of the second half, the Bobcats extended their lead to 17 points (62-45) after Jingco drilled a shot from downtown.
Minutes later, the Bobcats lead improved to 20 points (71-51) after Duty sunk one from 22 feet with six minutes remaining.
Leading by 20 with just over five minutes left in the contest, the Bobcats went on their way to earn their first playoff victory in program history.
Bryant & Stratton shot 49.2% from the field and 41.5% from distance.
UP NEXT:
The #18 Bobcats (#2 seeded) will travel to the host of the semi-final and championship game, Waubonsee Community College, to take on Waubonsee CC (#3 seeded) on Sunday.
Tip-off will take place at 6:00pm.
The Waubonsee CC Chiefs defeated #6 seeded Illinois Valley Community College on Thursday evening to advance to the semi-finals.
The Bobcats defeated the Chiefs earlier this season 83-70 and will hope for a similar result this time around.
Spectators can watch all of the Bobcats playoff games live on the OFFICIAL YOUTUBE CHANNEL.