It was a highly anticipated early season showdown between Triton and Olive-Harvey College Tuesday night at the Collins Center. Earlier in the day the first NJCAA Division II men's basketball poll was released with Triton ranked No. 7 and Olive-Harvey ranked No. 9. The Panthers came in with plenty of momentum with an 11-0 record. Still the Trojans did what they had to do in holding off a serious challenge from the visitors in a 77-70 win.
The game was close throughout the first half, but Triton (7-2) finished the half strong with the help of an 11-2 run to go into halftime up 36-30. Olive-Harvey responded with the first seven points of the 2nd half to grab a 37-36 advantage. The lead would switch hands four more times before the Trojans made the big play of the night that brought that house down.
With the contest tied at 51,
Alondes Williams got a steal to create a fast break, dished off to
Issaiah Hayes, who lobbed it back up to Williams for a thunderous dunk to give Triton the lead for good at 53-51 with 11:25 remaining. The Trojans when on a 10-3 run to take control of the game down the stretch and positioned themselves to preserve the victory.
Deonta Terrell led Triton with 21 points.
Courtese Cooper finished with 14 points and seven rebounds. Williams ended up with 13 points and 10 boards,
The Trojans hit the road this weekend with a difficult back-to-back. Triton will be in Iowa Thursday to take on NJCAA Division I ranked Southeastern Community College. Then Friday night, the Trojans will be in Galesburg to face Carl Sandburg College, who received votes in the NJCAA Division II poll.
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