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DANVILLE — The Danville Area Community College men’s basketball team’s first game in March sure brought the madness on Tuesday.
The Jaguars struggled with Lewis & Clark Community College all game and when they were down 48-46 with a few seconds left, they finally got the big shot they were looking for.
DeShawn Clark hit the game-winning 3-pointer to give DACC the 49-48 win over the Trailblazers and advanced to Friday’s Region 24 semifinals.
“For the last shot, I was just confident,” Clark said. “I worked on that shot a lot in practice. It took me a minute to get going but it was able to fall when the team needed it.”
“He (Clark) and Blake (Reed) didn’t make shots early and they are our shot makers but he made it when we needed it,” DACC head coach DaJuan Gouard said. “It was a big time shot and I told him that you could make those shots earlier and you don’t have to wait until the last second to shoot them.”
Up until then, the Jaguars were having a problem with an Trailblazers team that they defeated by 20 in the last meeting for both teams on Feb. 21.
“Two things happened: They played hard and we were missing shots,” Gouard said. “You have to give them credit and thy never laid down. They played until the last second and that’s what our league is all about and I love games like this because it prepares you for postseason play. You play all the way to the last second and that’s what March Madness is all about.”
The Jaguars had a 24-18 halftime lead, overcoming a long stretch where DACC could not make a shot in the first half.
“They played at a high level and they took us out of a lot of things and took us out of what we wanted to do offensively and they made us work to get defensive stops,” Gouard said. “They outplayed us for a long portion of the game and we figured out how to get the win.
“I felt they were more aggressive on defense and the refs let us play,” Dickson said. “We thrive at the line and coach preaches to get to the line and they did a good job not letting us get to the line.”
Dickson ended up leading all scorers with 15 points, while Clark and Jeremy Wilson each had six and Kam Sweetnam and Elijah Stark each added five.
“Jordan has been big time for us this year. He played at a high level today and made some shots,” Gouard said. “Kam has been great for us in the last few weeks and has been playing about 10-17 minutes and he has been providing a spark for us and been helping us win the game.”
Gouard still saw things that can be corrected, starting with free-throw shooting.
We might have missed five or six free-throws in the last few minutes,” Gouard said. “We have to make free-throws and that is going to be big moving forward in the semifinals.
“We just didn’t make shots” Clark said. “We left points on the board, even when trying to converting turnovers. We could have scored a lot more on fast break opportunities, but we couldn’t make shots.”
With the win, the Jaguars are 24-3 and will take on Lincoln Land Community College in Friday’s first semifinal at Mary Miller Gym at 3 p.m.
The Loggers are 12-11 after beating John Wood 68-62 on Tuesday and the Jaguars are not overlooking the competition ahead.
In this time of year, every game is tough and there are no easy wins,” Gouard said. “So whoever it is we have to be prepared to play at a high level.”
It’s the beginning of March,” Clark said. “We will just take it game by game and hopefully we can keep winning the Regional Championship and go to the National Championship.
“Playoff basketball is all about with big shots in big moments,” Dickson said. “Now we move on to the next and build from that and take it to the next game and go on to the championship.
“We have to go back into the gym and get the amount of shots up because we didn’t shoot the ball as we are used to. We have to go in the lab, get some shots up and get prepared because I feel when our shots are falling, no one can mess with us.”
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The Jaguars struggled with Lewis & Clark Community College all game and when they were down 48-46 with a few seconds left, they finally got the big shot they were looking for.
DeShawn Clark hit the game-winning 3-pointer to give DACC the 49-48 win over the Trailblazers and advanced to Friday’s Region 24 semifinals.
“For the last shot, I was just confident,” Clark said. “I worked on that shot a lot in practice. It took me a minute to get going but it was able to fall when the team needed it.”
“He (Clark) and Blake (Reed) didn’t make shots early and they are our shot makers but he made it when we needed it,” DACC head coach DaJuan Gouard said. “It was a big time shot and I told him that you could make those shots earlier and you don’t have to wait until the last second to shoot them.”
Up until then, the Jaguars were having a problem with an Trailblazers team that they defeated by 20 in the last meeting for both teams on Feb. 21.
“Two things happened: They played hard and we were missing shots,” Gouard said. “You have to give them credit and thy never laid down. They played until the last second and that’s what our league is all about and I love games like this because it prepares you for postseason play. You play all the way to the last second and that’s what March Madness is all about.”
The Jaguars had a 24-18 halftime lead, overcoming a long stretch where DACC could not make a shot in the first half.
“They played at a high level and they took us out of a lot of things and took us out of what we wanted to do offensively and they made us work to get defensive stops,” Gouard said. “They outplayed us for a long portion of the game and we figured out how to get the win.
“I felt they were more aggressive on defense and the refs let us play,” Dickson said. “We thrive at the line and coach preaches to get to the line and they did a good job not letting us get to the line.”
Dickson ended up leading all scorers with 15 points, while Clark and Jeremy Wilson each had six and Kam Sweetnam and Elijah Stark each added five.
“Jordan has been big time for us this year. He played at a high level today and made some shots,” Gouard said. “Kam has been great for us in the last few weeks and has been playing about 10-17 minutes and he has been providing a spark for us and been helping us win the game.”
Gouard still saw things that can be corrected, starting with free-throw shooting.
We might have missed five or six free-throws in the last few minutes,” Gouard said. “We have to make free-throws and that is going to be big moving forward in the semifinals.
“We just didn’t make shots” Clark said. “We left points on the board, even when trying to converting turnovers. We could have scored a lot more on fast break opportunities, but we couldn’t make shots.”
With the win, the Jaguars are 24-3 and will take on Lincoln Land Community College in Friday’s first semifinal at Mary Miller Gym at 3 p.m.
The Loggers are 12-11 after beating John Wood 68-62 on Tuesday and the Jaguars are not overlooking the competition ahead.
In this time of year, every game is tough and there are no easy wins,” Gouard said. “So whoever it is we have to be prepared to play at a high level.”
It’s the beginning of March,” Clark said. “We will just take it game by game and hopefully we can keep winning the Regional Championship and go to the National Championship.
“Playoff basketball is all about with big shots in big moments,” Dickson said. “Now we move on to the next and build from that and take it to the next game and go on to the championship.
“We have to go back into the gym and get the amount of shots up because we didn’t shoot the ball as we are used to. We have to go in the lab, get some shots up and get prepared because I feel when our shots are falling, no one can mess with us.”
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