Feb. 20 Southeastern Community College at West Burlington, Iowa

On Wednesday, Feb. 20, the State Fair Community College (SFCC) Roadrunners lost 66-60 to the Southeastern Community College Blackhawks, the 15th-ranked team in NJCAA Division I Men's Basketball Poll.

Southeastern led 33-30 at halftime and made the necessary plays down the stretch to hold on for the victory.

"We had the lead with about three minutes to go in the game," said Roadrunners Basketball Head Coach Matt Brown. "We had ample opportunities to win the game. We had some good looks, but offensively we just didn't finish. Southeastern is a really good team. I thought Caleb played well for us and Mike Stone gave us some really good minutes off of the bench."

Freshman guard Damaria Franklin of Chicago, Illinois led the Roadrunners in scoring with 16 points. Four others scored double-figures on the night. Sophomore guard/forward Caleb Coleman of Hammond, Indiana registered a double-double with 15 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. He also led the team in blocks with four. Sophomore guard Dewayne Charles of Kansas City, Missouri dished out a team-high six assists. Sophomore guard Dru Smith of Kansas City, Missouri and redshirt sophomore forward Mike Stone of Brooklyn, New York chipped in with 10 points each.

The Blackhawks forced SFCC into 17 turnovers in the game.

Feb. 23 Mineral Area College at Park Hills, Missouri

The SFCC Roadrunners closed out the regular season portion of their schedule with an 80-74 loss to the Mineral Area College Cardinals in Park Hills, Missouri on Saturday, Feb. 23. The game was part of the Region 16 and MCCAC schedule for both teams and featured five lead changes and three ties.

Mineral Area led 39-35 at halftime. The Roadrunners fought back to tie the game at 67 with about four minutes remaining in the game.

The Cardinals knocked down some big three-point shots down the stretch to secure the victory.

SFCC (12-15, 2-6 in Region 16, 4-6 in the MCCAC) was led in scoring with 23 points from Coleman. Smith pitched in with 17. Charles added 12 points and a team-high seven assists. Freshman forward L.J. Bryan of Cheltenham, Maryland pulled down a team-high eight rebounds. He also led the team in blocked shots with three. Charles, Franklin, and Coleman all registered two steals in the game.

"MineraL Area played a lot of zone defense against us," said Brown. "The bottom line is this late in the season you have to make shots. It was a back-and-forth game. I expect to see the same type of game when we go back down there on Tuesday (Feb. 26) in the Region Tournament quarterfinal round.

David Rohrbach

SFCC Athletics