MCC survives, advances at nationals

DANVILLE, Illinois - In terms of victories for the MCC men's basketball team, Wednesday's win over Howard CC most likely won't lead off this season's highlight reel.

But at this stage of the season, the Tribunes will take it.

Monroe struggled from the field all day, but a late run and a an impassioned second-half defensive effort lifted the team to a 62-56 victory over the Dragons in the opening round of the 2013 NJCAA Division II national tournament.

The Tribunes (30-3) will take on Moraine Valley CC Thursday at 9:30 p.m. Eastern in the quarterfinals. Moraine had defeated Grand Rapids CC earlier in the day.

Howard led 44-42 with 7:28 remaining in the half before Tashawn Desir (Brooklyn, NY/Nia Prep) knocked down a pair of free throws to tie the game. Ta-Quan Zimmerman (Waterbury, CT/Holy Cross) then hit a 3 and followed that with a steal and a layup for a 49-44 lead.

That was the beginning of a 15-4 run over a span of 3:05 for Monroe.  Jonathan Velez-Rivera (Bayamon, PR/Seneca Valley) capped the run with a 3-pointer from the corner to give MCC a 57-48 lead with 4:23 remaining.

The Tribunes continued to pressure Howard all over the floor. The Dragons were forced to foul down the stretch, and though MCC converted just 5-of-12 from the charity stripe over the final few minutes, it was enough to get the win.

Monroe finished 19-of-61 from the field and was just 17-of-36 from the free throw line.  But the Tribune defense forced Howard into 29 percent shooting from the floor (20-for-67). The Dragons outrebounded MCC 49-39.

Monroe trailed for much of the first half, although the Howard lead was never more than a few points. Dallas Gary (Buffalo, NY/East) provided a big spark, going 4-for-6 from the field and scoring 9 of his 14 points over the first 20 minutes to keep MCC in the game. His layup helped cut the Dragon lead to just two, 29-27, at the break.

Arnold Fripp (Brooklyn, NY/Brooklyn Collegiate) finished with a double-double for Monroe, totaling 15 points and 11 rebounds to go along with four blocks. Desir also hit double figures with 12 points, and Zimmerman stuffed the stat sheet to the tune of 8 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists.