Commodores End Regular Season With Loss At Hocking; Region 12 Title Game Awaits On Saturday at Owens

February 21, 2024 - - The Lorain County Community College men's basketball team held on tough in the first half against the first place Hocking College Hawks Wednesday but a slow start to the second half doomed the Commodores as they fell in their regular season finale, 109-74.

Top Commodores

Tavion Pride (Cleveland, Ohio/Aurora HS) - 26 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal

Deonte Benejan (Queens, N.Y./Lorain HS) – 20 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist

Tiyorne Coleman (New York City, N.Y./Bunnell HS) – 11 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist

Jayden Maxwell (Chicago, Ill./Buchtel CLC) – 10 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals

Recap

LCCC (5-22, 2-13) came into the contest with nothing to lose and played like it in the first half. They went 5-for-6 from downtown and only turned the ball over five times against seven assists. The Commodores got down in the early going but pushed back later in the half when Jayden Maxwell buried a three pointer to put LCCC on top of the Hawks, 28-27.  One minute later, it was Tiyorne Coleman with a three ball that gave LCCC a 33-31 lead with five minutes to play.  Then it was Tavion Pride who got into the act to pad the Commodore lead to five, 36-31.  LCCC would go into the half trailing by one, 45-44.

The second half was all Hocking (19-5, 12-1).  The Hawks used a 20-7 run to push their lead into double digits with 13 minutes remaining and then the Commodores suffered a blow offensively when they lost leading-scorer Deonte Benejan, who fouled out with 7 minutes left in the game.

Notes

• LCCC shot 35% from the field
• Five different Commodores connected from three point territory
• LCCC made 20 free throws for the eighth time this season and for the third game in a row
• Deonte Benejan scored 20 points for the 21^st time this season
• Tavion Pride scored 20 points for the seventh time this season

LCCC's Tavion Pride Earns OCCAC Weekly Award

Tavion Pride's performance against the Owens Community College Express last week earned him recognition from the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference as their Player of the Week (February 12-18) thanks to his 18-point, 13-rebound performance that helped men's basketball to a 86-83 win on Wednesday, February 14, 2024.

In addition to his second double-double of the season, Pride also dished out four assists, had one steal, and one block.

In 11 games for LCCC this season, Pride is averaging 20.5 points per game while shooting 38% from the field. He is also averaging 7.8 rebounds per game and 4.3 assists.  He has scored 11 or more points in every single game he has played for the Commodores this season.

Next Up

The regular season concludes for the Commodores and the postseason awaits as their next game will be this Saturday, February 24, 2024, at Owens Community College for the DIII National Junior College Athletic Association Region 12 Championship. 

LCCC will be defending their back-to-back Regional titles that they won in 2022 and 2023 and will go for their fourth title in seven years. 

LCCC last defeated Owens on February 14, 86-83, at home to split the season series with the Express. Tip-off is at noon in Perrysburg, Ohio.

The game can be viewed at athletics.lorainccc.edu