Roadrunners storm back to defeat Olney Central College

Sedalia, Mo.-The State Fair Community College (SFCC) Roadrunners men's basketball team erased a 17-point deficit in the first half to emerge with a 78-69 victory over Olney Central College on Tuesday, Nov. 4 inside the Fred E. Davis Multipurpose Center in Sedalia.

SFCC (2-1) trailed 25-10 with less than eight minutes remaining in the opening half. Olney Central stretched the advantage to 34-17 later in the first half. The Roadrunners turned up their intensity on both ends of the floor to trim the deficit to 10 points, at halftime the score was 38-28.

"We were able to get out in transition," said Roadrunners Head Coach Jeremy Jackson. "We started getting our stops that we normally get on the defensive end the floor. We rebounded the ball."

The Roadrunners kept the momentum going throughout the second half. Freshman guard Nate Wilder knocked down a big three-point shot to tie the game at 61 with six minutes 27 seconds remaining in the game.

Sophomore forward Malick Ndiaye gave the Roadrunners their first lead of the contest at 63-61 with less than six minutes remaining. SFCC made the plays in last few minutes to secure the comeback victory.

"I think our depth came into play," said Jackson. "I don't think we came out with much energy to begin the game which hurt us. We really came out in the second half determined to raise our energy level. Olney Central is a very well coached team. They ran some really good stuff against us. I'm proud of our guys for not folding. We gave in a little bit, but we showed we wanted to win and played hard."

Ndiaye registered a double-double off the bench for SFCC with 19 points and 11 rebounds to lead the team in both categories. Freshman guard Damian Dirden contributed 12 points, a team-high six assists and tied for the team lead in steals with three with sophomore forward Daniel Garza. Garza and freshman guard Nate Wilder also pitched in with 12 points each. Sophomore forward Ibraheem Sylla, sophomore wing Jai'Kori Phillps and freshman wing Da'Ron Hall all registered two blocked shots which tied for the team lead.

SFCC will return to action on Friday, Nov. 7 with a game against Cloud County Community College at the Culver's Midwest Classic. Tipoff is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.

David Rohrbach

SFCC Athletics