Roadrunners split games at classic

The Roadrunners played two games during the Stone Laser Imaging Classic on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 18-19 at the Fred E. Davis Multipurpose Center. 

On Friday night, SFCC (6-2) took on the Westminster College JV Blue Jays. SFCC jumped out to an early 17-3 lead courtesy of a three-point shot from sophomore guard Corey Mendez and cruised to a 118-74 victory over the Blue Jays. 

"We made shots early on and just extended the lead," said Head Coach Kevin Thomas. "The challenge in a game like this is to maintain intensity after we get a big lead." 

Sophomore forward Amir Smith led the Roadrunners in scoring with 29 points. He finished his double-double with 16 rebounds and tied for the lead in blocked shots with freshman forward Jamar Kemp with three apiece. Freshman guard Onteral Woodson Jr. contributed 22 points and led in assists with eight. Mendez and freshman guard Lorenzo Lawrence II added 16 points each. Freshman guard Russell Baker pitched in 12, and sophomore guard Vonny Irvin scored 10 points. Kemp registered a team-high three steals. Freshman center Isaac Bassey pulled down 10 rebounds. 

On Saturday, SFCC faced the quick and athletic Statesmen from Kennedy-King College in Chicago. SFCC trailed 35-33 at halftime. 

"We did a better job rebounding, getting defensive stops and rattled them a little bit," said Thomas. "We also contested some shots at the rim." 

With 17.4 seconds left in the game, SFCC was down one point when Kennedy-King missed a pair of free throws. SFCC got the ball, missed a shot and rebounded but couldn't get two more attempts to go down before the ball went out of bounds. Kennedy-King committed a turnover on the inbound throw with 3.9 seconds on the clock, giving the Roadrunners one final opportunity. They missed the first shot and a put back as the buzzer sounded. Final score was Kennedy-King 69, Roadrunners 68. 

"Kennedy-King is a good team," said Thomas. "We weren't able to string enough defensive stops together to get control of the game. We also missed too many free throws, which hurt us. When we shoot 58 percent from the free-throw line, that's not good enough to win a close game like this." 

Mendez led the Roadrunners with 25 points. Woodson and Smith added 14 each. Smith finished his double-double with 14 rebounds and also recorded nine blocked shots. Kemp led the team in steals with two. Irvin dished out a team-high five assists. 

SFCC was represented on the All-Tournament Team by Mendez, Woodson and Smith. Smith was named Most Valuable Player. The awards were voted on by the coaches, and they could not vote for their own players. 

SFCC will be back at the Davis Center at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 22, when they host the North Arkansas College Pioneers. 

David Rohrbach

SFCC Athletics