by Steve J. Moga smoga@waubonsee.edu 

(Sugar Grove, IL.) – The College of DuPage gave Waubonsee Community College men's basketball team all they could handle before the Chiefs (7-2) prevailed 85-83 Thursday evening in Erickson Hall Gymnasium. The Chaparrals (6-3) had the ball in the waning seconds, but a potential game-winning shot came up short giving Waubonsee a hard-fought win. For the game DuPage out rebounded the Chiefs 48-37, including a 20-6 edge in offensive boards. A combined total of 45 fouls were called and 60 free throws attempted in the intense, physical and sometimes heated battle. 

Chikasi Ofoma started the scoring when he nailed a three-pointer a minute and a half into the game. DuPage scored the next two baskets to take their only lead of the entire night at 4-3. Waubonsee regained the lead before Ehi Ogbomo scored from long range and Freddy Hassan scored on a putback as the Chiefs opened up a 12-4 lead. Josiah Mayes and James Parker then each netted baskets as all five Waubonsee starters dented the scoring column within the initial five minutes of action. A moment later Dirk Nickson came off the bench and drilled a long triple as the Chiefs jumped out to a 20-7 lead. CJ Savage then joined in the fun as he buried a pair of long treys to help Waubonsee maintain a double-digit lead through the midway point of the first half. 

The Chiefs, who entered the night third nationally among all NJCAA Division II teams in scoring with a 104.3 points-per-game average, then began to sputter on offense. The scrappy Chaparrals battled back at cut the Chiefs lead to 30-24 with six minutes left in the half. Waubonsee responded as Hassan drilled a long three-pointer to make it 36-26 a minute later. DuPage continued to hang around and sparked by their defense cut the deficit to four points with three minutes left. The visitors got it down to three points with a minute left in the half before an offensive foul whistled against the Chaparrals nullified a potential basket. After scoring 20 points in the first five minutes of the game, Waubonsee had managed just 19 over the following 14 minutes of play. However, they finished the half with two quick baskets capped off by a two-handed, breakaway slam by Mayes just before the buzzer to send the Chiefs to the locker room with a 43-36 lead. The Chaparrals went 13 of 20 from the foul line, while the Chiefs improbably did not go to the line at all the entire half.

In the pivotal opening five minutes of the second half the Chiefs and Chaparrals traded baskets back and forth. Again, DuPage clawed its way within three points at 45-42 as their defense flustered Waubonsee, forcing a pair of turnovers and a shot clock violation. With the aid of a big 17-0 advantage from the foul line after 25 minutes of play, the Chaparrals finally caught Waubonsee tying the game at 45-all on a short jumper by Adyn McGinley. After 26 foul shots by DuPage, Waubonsee finally shot its first free throw of the game when Brayden Long completed a three-point play to put the Chiefs ahead 48-45. Two minutes later Hassan picked up his fourth personal foul sending the 6'7" forward to the bench with nearly 13 minutes left in the game. As the midway point of the second half approached Waubonsee clung to a slim 55-52 lead.

DuPage pulled within one before Ofoma scored inside with nine minutes to go. The game remained nip-and-tuck while the fouls continued to mount for Waubonsee. A long, high arching triple by DuPage's Ethan Howard pulled the visitors within one at 64-63 with seven minutes left. The score remained that way over the next minute of play despite multiple chances for either team to score. A goal tending call against the Chaparrals and a trey by Ogbomo then gave Waubonsee a 69-63 lead with five minutes remaining. Parker converted a pair of free throws to push the lead to eight points as the intense battle headed down the stretch. A minute later Ogbomo burst in from the left corner and threw down a powerful one-handed slam to ignite the crowd. An inside bucket by Hassan made it 77-70 with two and a half minutes to go. As they had done all game DuPage refused to go away staying within striking distance. A clutch 17-foot jumper by Ogbomo extended the lead to 81-72 with a minute left. The Chaparrals kept battling and pulled within 82-78 with 0:30 remaining on a triple by Howard. A short time later Howard threw a rainbow three in from long range and was fouled to make it 83-81. Howard missed the free throw, but the Chiefs lost the rebound out of bounds to give DuPage the ball with 0:14 to go. The Chaparrals knotted the score with a put back basket with just 0:07 remaining. However, Nickson was fouled as he raced up floor with the ball and proceeded to nail both free throws with 0:05.4 left. After two timeouts DuPage had one last chance to either tie the game or win it. But a fade-away three-point attempt by Howard hit the front of the rim as the buzzer sounded and a relieved Waubonsee contingent exhaled. 

Ogbomo led Waubonsee with 19 points, while Ofoma booked 16 points before fouling out. Hassan finished with 10 points and six rebounds, Nickson added nine points, Parker chipped in with eight points and five assists, and Savage handed out six assists before also fouling out. Mayes, who missed most of the second half with an ankle sprain, handed out three assists.Howard led all scorers with 32 points in a losing cause, while Logan Glover contributed 20 points for the Chaparrals. The Chiefs are in action again next Tuesday, December 9, when they host Kishwaukee College at 7:30 p.m. The women's contest is slated to begin at 5:30 p.m. that evening in Erickson Hall.

photos by Cristina Molleda

                      Freddy Hassan (1) battles Cameron                 Brayden Long (4) contests a DuPage shot attempt                             Ehi Ogbomo (2) scores two of his 19 points 

                      Chandler (21) for the opening tipoff                                                                                                                                               over DuPage's Ethan Howard (1)