Plymouth, IN -- Mott Community College was hitting on all cylinders Thursday night as it beat No. 1 and previously unbeaten Ancilla College 117-97 in the semi-finals of the National Junior College Athletic Association Region 14 tournament.
This reversed the outcome the two teams had two weeks ago when Ancilla beat Mott 102-76. Tonight Ancilla (13-1) could not find the basket and let Mott have a clear path to their basket on several occasions. The Bears (12-4) led from the start and had settled in with a 15-point advantage in the first half, before pushing that to a 30-point advantage in the final five and a half minutes of the opening half.
Fifty-seven fouls were called in the game and Mott took advantage hitting 32-42 from the foul line, while Ancilla was 25-37. The Chargers got to within 15 points late in the second half but could get no closer.
Rico Swanson, Jr. led Ancilla with 23 points and six assists. Jakylen Thomas added 15 points and Marco Beverly had 13 points and 12 rebounds. Keith Rupert was a perfect 4 of 4 from behind the arch to finish with 12 points.
Ancilla will wait and see if they are awarded the an at-large bid to the NJCAA National tournament. There is one at-large bid available this year.
MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
NJCAA Region 12 Semi-finals
#17 Mott CC 117, #1 Ancilla College 97
At Plymouth, IN
Mott CC (117): Jailin Lee 6-9 4-5 20, Austin Roland 1-2 2-2 4, Andre Bradford 11-16 12-17 37, Saiveon Williams 4-5 1-2 9, JD Rawls 5-6 4-5 15, Josiah Hammons 4-10 3-4 12, Derrick Bryant 1-4 0-1 2, Connor Bush 4-5 6-6 14, Armond Williams 2-4 0-0 4. Team totals: .
ANCILLA (97): Jalen Fountain 1-2 3-4 5, Rico Swanson, Jr. 8-12 6-9 23, Jakylen Thomas 2-9 10-13 15, Brady Powers 2-4 2-2 6, Cortney Shorter 1-10 0-0 2, Marco Beverly 5-9 1-2 13, Zyquis Collins 1-1 0-0 2, Keith Rupert 4-4 0-0 12, Nolin Sharick 0-0 0-0 0, Shak Johnson 2-5 0-0 4, Marco Beverly 5-9 1-2 13, Caleb Brown 3-6 2-4 9, Brock Cosey 2-5 1-3 6. Team totals 31-67 25-37 97.
Score by Quarters
Halftime: Mott 58, Ancilla 30. 3-pts: Ancilla 10-31 (Fountain 0-1, Swanson, Jr. 1-3, Thomas 1-4, Powers 0-1, Rupert 4-4, Shorter 0-8, Beverly 2-5, Brown 1-2, Cosey 1-3), Mott 9-19 (Lee 4-4, Bradford 3-6, rawls 1-2, Hammons 1-5, Bryant 0-2). Rebounds: Ancilla 28 (Beverly 12), Mott 32 (Bush 6, Bradford 6). Assists: Ancilla 14 (Swanson, Jr. 6), Mott 14 (Bush 3, Bryant 3, Lee 3). Turnovers: Ancilla 23, Mott 20. Fouls (Fouled out): Mott 27 (Bryant, Williams, Roland), Ancilla 30 (Cosey, Swanson, Jr.). Tech-Thomas (A). Records: Ancilla 13-1, Mott 12-4.
