MACC GREYHOUNDS WIN HIGHLAND CC (IL) TOURNAMENT
#21 Ranked Greyhounds winning streak at 9 games
The Moberly Area Community College Men's Basketball Team captured the 8 team Highland Invitational Tournament on December 13-14 in Freeport, Illinois. The Greyhounds opened the tourney vs. Sauk Valley CC and promptly fell behind 16-2 before coming back to the the contest at 31-31 at the half. The game remained close the second half but Moberly won the contest 65-62 behind timely shooting and defensive stops. Ade Poppola lead Moberly in scoring with 30 points(6-14 from 3 point range) along with 16 rebounds while fellow sophomore Javaris Moye added 12 points with point guard KJ Vasser adding 11 assists.
In the semi-finals on Saturday morning vs. unbeaten and #10 nationally ranked Southeastern Iowa, MACC jumped out to a 43-21 halftime lead and eventually winning 84-53. Popoola lead the scoring with 27 points and 15 rebounds, DaJuan Bates added 19 points and Vasser scored 13 points with 5 assists.
In the championship game Saturday evening, Moberly faced a Moraine Valley CC Team that had defeated host Highland CC in the semifinals. Moberly trailed at the half 41-43 and faced a 60-66 deficit before going on a 14-0 run to gain the lead and winning the championship 90-84. Poppola lead the Hounds with 32 points and 13 rebounds(5-12 on treys) while Moye scored 20 points(6-10 on three pointers), Latrell Kyles added 11 points and Vasser contributed 10 points and 7 assists.
Poppola was named Tournament MVP after averaging 30 points, 15 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocked shots per game during the Tourney while KJ Vasser was named to the All Tournament Team. The Highland Tournament Title was the 7th out of the last 10 seasons for Moberly Basketball with their record being 27-3 in the tourney for those years.
"Tremendous tourney for our players and team," said Coach Patrick Smith, "Three completely different games with two very close games we had to tough thru and a very impressive win against a really good Southeastern Iowa ballclub. I thought our players showed a lot of mental and physical toughness in winning 3 games against good ball teams in 38 hours. Now it's onto the semester that really counts as we pursue wins and championships. I'm very pleased with the improvements this team has made and extremely excited about our potential as we continually seek the next level and greater consistency by continuing the process of daily improvement."
Moberly currently stands 11-3 on the season with a 9 game winning streak and #21 National Ranking. The Greyhounds return to action as they travel to Hillsboro, MO. to play Jefferson College on Thursday, January 2 at 7:00 pm. They return to home action as they will play a double-header against St. Louis Comm. College on Saturday, Jan. 4 at 5 and 7 pm.