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Mar. 18—DANVILLE — Danville Area Community College men's basketball sophomore guard Blake Reed had a green shoe on his left foot and an orange shoe on his right.
He said he's been wearing that combo for the last couple months and it had nothing to do with the fact that Tuesday was St. Patrick's Day, but it didn't hurt to have a little extra green on for the Jaguars' opening game of the NJCAA Division II national tournament against Mid Michigan College.
"It was a good day to wear green," Reed said. "My grandma actually texted me that she was praying for St. Patrick to give us some luck."
The seventh-seeded Jaguars went on to defeat the 10th-seeded Lakers 85-68 to advance to the quarterfinals, making everyone want to embrace the holiday.
"I never really celebrated it," DACC redshirt freshman Jeremy Wilson said with a smirk, "but it's a good day to celebrate it (Tuesday)."
And with DACC hosting the tournament at Mary Miller Gym, there was quite a bit of green in the stands, giving the Jaguars an added edge.
"I told our guys coming into this game that this would be the biggest crowd we've played in front of all year," DACC coach DaJuan Gouard said. "I told them to not be nervous, to have fun, let our hair down and get the job done. I think our guys did that."
The Jaguars (26-4) played like they had an advantage from the opening tip, jumping out to an 11-0 lead before Mid Michigan (25-7) finally made a basket almost five minutes into the game. DACC got up by as many as 13 points in the first half and went into the locker room ahead 41-29.
"Coming into the game, we knew we had to stay connected and resilient no matter what," Wilson said. "Even when they went on runs, we knew we had to stay resilient. The mentality was to just play hard, play defense and stay connected."
The Jaguars had that same urgency to start the second half, going on a 7-0 run to go up by 19. From there, it was just a matter of locking down on defense and holding onto that lead.
Wilson led the winning effort with 25 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks, and Reed had 17 points while going 4 of 7 from three-point range. DeShawn Clark tallied 14 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals, and Jordan Dickson added 13 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
"It means everything, man," Wilson said. "We put in so much work that we deserve this moment. All the work we put in, it felt like it finally paid off."
With just over a minute left and the game in hand, Gouard emptied his bench. As Reed walked off the court, he started throwing his arms up to get the crowd going again with a "Let's go!"
"Last year, we were battling through a lot of adversity and injuries," Reed said. "We were supposed to be good, but everybody was hurt, and we wound up having like a .500 season. We came back, and we weren't going to let this season go to waste. With how last year ended, we weren't satisfied, and the emotions overflowed once we knew we were going to win."
The win moves DACC on to the Elite Eight, where it will play the winner of second-seeded Palm Beach State College and 15th-seeded Suny Orange County Community College at 8 p.m. on Wednesday.
The Jaguars won't have the help of St. Patrick in that game, but Gouard is confident his team doesn't need luck to pull out another win.
"I'm more of a DACC fan," Gouard said with a smile, "so it's a great day to wear DACC green."
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He said he's been wearing that combo for the last couple months and it had nothing to do with the fact that Tuesday was St. Patrick's Day, but it didn't hurt to have a little extra green on for the Jaguars' opening game of the NJCAA Division II national tournament against Mid Michigan College.
"It was a good day to wear green," Reed said. "My grandma actually texted me that she was praying for St. Patrick to give us some luck."
The seventh-seeded Jaguars went on to defeat the 10th-seeded Lakers 85-68 to advance to the quarterfinals, making everyone want to embrace the holiday.
"I never really celebrated it," DACC redshirt freshman Jeremy Wilson said with a smirk, "but it's a good day to celebrate it (Tuesday)."
And with DACC hosting the tournament at Mary Miller Gym, there was quite a bit of green in the stands, giving the Jaguars an added edge.
"I told our guys coming into this game that this would be the biggest crowd we've played in front of all year," DACC coach DaJuan Gouard said. "I told them to not be nervous, to have fun, let our hair down and get the job done. I think our guys did that."
The Jaguars (26-4) played like they had an advantage from the opening tip, jumping out to an 11-0 lead before Mid Michigan (25-7) finally made a basket almost five minutes into the game. DACC got up by as many as 13 points in the first half and went into the locker room ahead 41-29.
"Coming into the game, we knew we had to stay connected and resilient no matter what," Wilson said. "Even when they went on runs, we knew we had to stay resilient. The mentality was to just play hard, play defense and stay connected."
The Jaguars had that same urgency to start the second half, going on a 7-0 run to go up by 19. From there, it was just a matter of locking down on defense and holding onto that lead.
Wilson led the winning effort with 25 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks, and Reed had 17 points while going 4 of 7 from three-point range. DeShawn Clark tallied 14 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals, and Jordan Dickson added 13 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
"It means everything, man," Wilson said. "We put in so much work that we deserve this moment. All the work we put in, it felt like it finally paid off."
With just over a minute left and the game in hand, Gouard emptied his bench. As Reed walked off the court, he started throwing his arms up to get the crowd going again with a "Let's go!"
"Last year, we were battling through a lot of adversity and injuries," Reed said. "We were supposed to be good, but everybody was hurt, and we wound up having like a .500 season. We came back, and we weren't going to let this season go to waste. With how last year ended, we weren't satisfied, and the emotions overflowed once we knew we were going to win."
The win moves DACC on to the Elite Eight, where it will play the winner of second-seeded Palm Beach State College and 15th-seeded Suny Orange County Community College at 8 p.m. on Wednesday.
The Jaguars won't have the help of St. Patrick in that game, but Gouard is confident his team doesn't need luck to pull out another win.
"I'm more of a DACC fan," Gouard said with a smile, "so it's a great day to wear DACC green."
Continue reading...
