Commodores Win Region XII Semi-Final, Advance to Championship

February 24, 2019 - - The Lorain County Community College Men's Basketball team came from behind in an exciting fashion to overtake Hocking College late in the game and score a 94-89 victory in their NJCAA Region XII Division III Semi-Final game at Ohio Christian University.

The Commodores were down 51-43 with 15 minutes to go in the game before they made a run on the Hawks and cut their lead to 53-51. LCCC went up 72-65 after the Hocking coach was called for a technical foul with 8 minutes to play, then the Hawks made a run of their own to knot the score at 86 at the 1:59 mark.

The teams traded layups before Hocking went ahead 89-88 after a Lorain foul with 1:04 on the clock. Ny'Jere Hodges (Wilmington, DE/Mount Pleasant) grabbed a big offensive rebound off a Lorain missed 3-pointer and was fouled with 50 seconds to go. Hodges hit both free throws and LCCC reclaimed the lead 90-89.

Justin Newman (Cincinnati/Robert A. Taft) snagged a key steal with 23 seconds to play and was fouled. Newman hit both shots to give the Commodores a 92-89 edge on the Hawks. Hocking missed a 3-pointer with 14 seconds to go and Andrew Nelson (Strongsville) came up big with the defensive rebound. He was fouled and sent to the line, making both to seal the victory for Lorain.

LCCC Head Coach, Marty Eggleston, commented following the win, "We played our style of defense and followed our game plan. We had three guys with 10 or more rebounds and played a solid game all the way around. Tomorrow's game is what we've worked to reach. The Regional Championship is our first goal and tomorrow will be our true test."

Three Lorain players finished with double-doubles in the win, with Hodges leading the way with 26 points, including 10 of 12 from the charity stripe, and 14 boards. Newman recorded his third double-double this week…scoring 21 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. He also dished out 3 assists, had 2 steals and 2 blocks on the night. Jovon Jones (Elyria/F.B.C.S.) put in 15 points and 10 boards. Thomas Hronis (North Ridgeville) contributed 18 points, while Nelson added 8 points, 5 rebounds, and a team-high 4 assists.

Lorain improves to 14-16 on the season heading into the Region XII Championship game tomorrow night at Ohio Christian University against top-seeded Columbus State Community College. Tipoff is at 7:30 pm.