(Sugar Grove, IL.) – Waubonsee Community College's men's basketball team opened the 2025-2026 season by trouncing visiting Harper College 110-64 on Saturday afternoon in Erickson Hall Gymnasium. The Chiefs (1-0) dominated the winless Hawks (0-4) from the opening tip and never looked back, leading by as many as 48 points in the second half. Waubonsee made 14 three-pointers and registered 20 steals for the game, while forcing 32 turnovers. Of the 15 Chiefs that stepped onto the floor, 14 dented the scoring column.
Waubonsee got on the scoreboard first as Chikasi Ofoma scored inside on the Chiefs' first possession. Close-in baskets by CJ Savage and Freddy Hassan helped the home team grab an early 6-2 lead. A moment later Ofoma got a steal at mid-court and hammered down a two-handed slam to the delight of the home crowd. By the time Harper's 7'0" center Kevin Edgecombe scored inside, the Chiefs had built a 14-4 lead. Savage then buried a three-pointer off a feed from Hassan to make it 17-4 and prompt Hawks' head coach Lamario Richards to call timeout. Waubonsee kept up the pressure after the halt in play and quickly pushed the lead to 25-8 highlighted by a couple baskets by Dirk Nickson. Back-to-back long three-pointers by Brayden Long extended the lead to 34-11 at the midway point of the first half.
Two minutes later another steal led to a three on none fastbreak for the Chiefs. Ofoma capped it off with a highlight reel, spinning 360-degree two-handed dunk. Waubonsee continued to pressure and wear down the Hawks rotating a dozen players in and out of the game. A triple by Hassan and a breakaway, tomahawk one-handed slam by Ehi Ogbomo pushed the lead to 43-16 with five minutes still left in the half. A slick bucket by left-handed Tarell Harding, switching to his right hand in mid-air to lay it off the glass, capped the half with the Chiefs taking a 56-28 lead into the break. Waubonsee forced 17 Harper turnovers, scoring 27 points off those miscues. The Chiefs also owned a 23-0 advantage in fastbreak points and a 23-7 edge in bench points on the way to shooting 57 percent from the field in a dominating first half display.
A minute into the second half Ofoma again got ahead of the pack and threw down another two-handed slam, his third dunk of the game. A short time later Ofoma took a feed low on the block from James Parker and spun around for another two-handed dunk as the Chiefs lead grew to 67-35. Waubonsee maintained a 30-plus point lead as Desean Patton scored on a put back basket and Josiah Mayes completed a three-point play to make it 77-42. The Chiefs' intensity never waned as Nickson took an offensive charge on the ensuing Harper possession. At the midway point of the half Ofoma drove down the lane and registered his fifth slam of the game as the Chiefs held an 85-48 lead.
Ofoma drilled a trey from the right corner and Harding picked off a pass and scored inside as the Chiefs poured it on down the stretch. Waubonsee recorded four straight steals and Savage finished off the sequence with a three-pointer from the left corner to make it 97-55. The Chiefs reached the century mark with four minutes to go on a long triple by JJ Strojinc. The sophomore then buried another shot from the beyond the arc on the next Waubonsee possession to give the home team a 103-55 lead. Moments later the sharpshooter connected on an even longer three and Eddy Redento capped off the lopsided win with a one-handed lay-up in the waning seconds.
Ogbomo paced Waubonsee's balanced attack with 16 points, four steals and three assists. Savage added 15 points and also made four steals. Ofoma finished with a dozen points and grabbed six rebounds. Strojinc chipped in with 11 points off the bench making 3 of 4 shots from long distance, helping the Chiefs' bench outscore the Hawks reserves 55-13. Hassan contributed 10 points to give Waubonsee five players in double figures. Kam Chandler also came off the bench to score nine points and hand out six assists, while Nickson and Mayes each added eight points. Parker and Harding were each credited with five assists as the Chiefs compiled 30 assists as a team. Coach Lance Robinson's Chiefs are in action again this coming Tuesday, November 11, when they host Illinois Valley Community College at 7:30 p.m. The women's contest between the Chiefs and Eagles is set for 5:30 p.m. that evening.
photos by Cristina Molleda
Chikasi Ofoma with a two-handed dunk Brayden Long drives to the rim Dirk Nickson soars in for a two