NJCAA Region IV Div. II Men's Basketball District 3 

Sunday, March 4, 2018

#3   Olive-Harvey                     44             50             ( 94 )       26-6

#2   Moraine Valley                44             46             ( 90 )       19-13 

Olive-Harvey edges Moraine Valley in intense back-and-forth battle

(Sugar Grove, IL.) –Second-seeded Moraine Valley and third-seeded Olive-Harvey squared off in an intense battle from opening tip until the final horn. After 21 ties and 25 lead changes, the Panthers from Chicago pulled out a thrilling 94-90 victory in the semi-finals of the Region IV Division II District 3 Tournament.

Moraine led by as many as seven in the first half, but the Panthers rallied to knot the score at 44 on a lay-up just before the halftime buzzer sounded. Olive-Harvey connected on 19 of 22 free throws (86 percent) in the first half to keep the game even.

Neither team had more than a four-point lead in the second half as they battled back and forth. With only a minute to go Olive-Harvey's Sean Atwater stole the ball and raced up floor for a breakaway lay-in to give the Panthers an 87-86 lead. On the Cyclones next trip down the court Liddell Davis grabbed a key offensive rebound and was fouled with 0:38 remaining. However, Davis missed the front end of a one-and-one situation to give Olive-Harvey a chance to add to their lead. The Panthers did just that as Kendrick Robinson made a clutch three-pointer from the right wing to make it 90-86 with only 0:15 left.

A series of fouls and trips to the charity stripe ensued after that. Deshawn Wilson was fouled on a drive to basket with 0:09.1 remaining and promptly converted both free throw attempts to pull Moraine Valley back within two points. Robinson then sank two free throws with 0:07.6 to make it 92-88 in favor of the Panthers. Wilson was accidentally fouled and sent to the line with 0:05.4 to go, where he nailed both free throws for the Cyclones. Atwater was again fouled and he made both free throw attempts with 0:03.4 remaining to clinch it for Olive-Harvey.

Robinson finished with 23 points and seven rebounds to lead Olive-Harvey. Atwater booked a double-double with 20 points and 10 boards, to go along with five assists, while Darias Oliver tallied 12 points and snagged six rebounds before fouling out. Maurice Chambers led Moraine Valley with 19 points, six boards and three assists. Cortez King chipped in with 17 points, and Wilson also registered 17 points and handed out three assists. David Gray contributed 14 points and Nicholas Holmes netted 13 points and dished out seven assists.

Olive-Harvey College will play for the Region IV Division II District 3 Championship next Saturday, March 10 at 5:00 p.m. in Waubonsee's Erickson Hall Gymnasium. The Panthers (26-6) will play top-seeded Triton College (28-4), a 105-66 winner over fifth-seeded Illinois Valley in the semi-finals. All the tournament games can been seen 'live' on-line at www.GoChiefs.com/RegionIV. For more information on the tournament, go to www.GoChiefs.com. The winner will advance to the NJCAA Division II National Tournament in Danville, Illinois beginning March 20