MACC GREYHOUNDS WIN HIGHLAND (IL) INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT
Overcome 15 pt. deficit in finals vs. Highland in 86-84 2OT win
The Moberly Area Community College Men's Basketball Team won the Highland Invitational Tournament in Freeport, IL. during the weekend of December 15-16. The Greyhounds defeated Sauk Valley (67-65), Southeastern Iowa CC(63-48) and in the finals, captured the championship with an 86-84 double overtime win over host Highland CC.
MOBERLY 86, HIGHLAND 84
In their 3rd game in 24 hours, MACC fell behind 51-36 with 15 minutes remaining and still trailed by 10 points with 6 minutes remaining. However, the Greyhounds came back to tie the game at the end of regulation and after two back and forth overtime sessions, took the lead with 5.3 seconds remaining on a pull up two pointer by sophomore Nelson Reynolds. Highland missed a three pointer at the buzzer and the Hounds captured the 8 team championship. Tournament MVP Xavier Sykes lead Moberly in scoring with 24 points (13-16 from the free throw line), freshman wing Javarius Moye had 15 points, 7 rebounds and 7 steals, Reynolds added 14 points(4-6 from three point range) while Isaiah Robinson and Freddie Cooper scored 13 points each. Cooper and Robinson also each grabbed 11 rebounds .
MOBERLY 63, SOUTHEASTERN IOWA 48
After battling to a 25-25 halftime stand-off, #16 ranked Moberly went on a 22-2 run to start the second half and compile their second victory of the season over Southeastern Iowa CC(receiving votes). Freddie Cooper lead the Greyhounds with a game high 17 points while Sykes contributed 11 points and 7 assists while Tareeq Anderson added 14 rebounds.
MOBERLY 67, SAUK VALLEY 65
Moberly had a very tough first round game on Friday as they battled the extremely talented Sauk Valley squad from NJCAA Region IV. The Greyhounds grabbed a 33-29 halftime lead and after an extremely close second half, got a last second defensive stop to secure the victory. Sykes had 15 points and 6 assists to lead the Hounds while Cooper added 14 points and Tekao Carpenter scored 11 points with Anderson grabbing 10 rebounds.
"Just a tremendous effort by our players from start to finish of this tournament," said Coach Patrick Smith, "We survived a really tough first round game against Sauk Valley, defeated a very good SE Iowa team and then had to battle for 50 minutes to defeat the host team in the finals. At the same time, we were minus two starters because of injuries for the entire tourney and fouled three players out in the championship game. I really applaud our player's toughness, mindset and ability to stay the course to achieve the end result. What a way to end the first semester from a team standpoint and now we get to take a break, players get to spend time with their families and then reconvene after Christmas to get ready for the semester that counts."
#16 nationally ranked Moberly improved their overall record to 11-3 on the season with their 9th victory in the last 10 games. The tournament title was the 6th in the last 8 seasons for MACC at the Highland Tourney and improved their overall record to 24-3 in the event.