Roadrunners defeat Kirkwood

Sedalia, Mo.- The State Fair Community College (SFCC) Roadrunners men's basketball team closed out the SFCC Classic with a 74-70 victory over Kirkwood Community College on Saturday, Nov. 15 inside the Fred E. Davis Multipurpose Center in Sedalia.

SFCC (4-4) led 11-8 with less than 16 minutes remaining in the opening half. SFCC pushed the advantage to 31-18 with less than six minutes remaining. The 13-point advantage was the largest lead held by either team in the contest. SFCC took a 36-27 lead into halftime.

The game remained close throughout the second half. Kirkwood trimmed the SFCC advantage to 44-39 with about 15 minutes to go in the game. The game was tied at 70 with 55.2 seconds remaining in regulation.

Freshman guard Nate Wilder made a layup with 33 seconds remaining to give SFCC the two-point lead. The Roadrunners earned a big defensive stop on the ensuing possession. Sophomore forward Malick Ndiaye drew a foul and knocked down a pair of free throws to seal the victory.

"When we want to bring effort and energy it is contagious for our team," said head coach Jeremy Jackson. "It was a night and day difference from last night to today with that. Tonight, I thought we got back to playing Roadrunner Basketball and what we want to build this program to be."

Ndiaye led the team in scoring with 17 points. Sophomore guard Gavin Q Murphy contributed 15 points on five three-point shots. Ndiaye and sophomore forward Ibraheem Sylla tied for the team lead in rebounds with nine. Wilder dished out a team-high three assists. Freshman wing JP Ndong led the team in steals with two.

As a team, SFCC shot 86.7 percent from the free-throw line.

SFCC will return to action on Monday, Nov. 17 with a game against Lewis & Clark Community College. Tipoff from the Fred E. Davis Multipurpose Center is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

David Rohrbach

SFCC Athletics