Roadrunners open conference play with a win over STLCC

Dec. 5 St. Louis Community College at St. Louis

The State Fair Community College (SFCC) Roadrunners opened their Missouri Community College Athletic Conference schedule on Wednesday, Dec. 5 with a 78-57 road victory over the St. Louis Community College Archers.

SFCC led 33-21 at halftime and cruised to a 21-point victory.

"In the past 10 days, we have played our best basketball of the season," said Roadrunners Basketball Head Coach Matt Brown. "We had 23 assists on 26 made field goals, that is really good. We did a good job of sharing the ball. We also took better care of the ball. We did a better job of making our free throws and our timing on offense has improved."

SFCC shot 45.6% from the field for the game and 71.9% from the free-throw line.

Sophomore guard/forward Caleb Coleman of Hammond, Indiana led three Roadrunners in double-figure scoring with 17 points. He tied for the team lead in steals with two with fellow sophomore guard Dewayne Charles of Kansas City, Missouri. Coleman also tied for the team lead in blocks with two, along with freshman forward L.J. Bryan of Cheltenham, Maryland. Sophomore guard Dru Smith of Kansas City, Missouri contributed 14 points and Bryan added 10. Charles dished out a team-high eight assists.

Dec. 8 Kansas City Kansas Community College at Sedalia

The SFCC Roadrunners closed out their first semester schedule on Saturday, Dec. 7 with a 64-54 victory over the Kansas City Kansas Community College Blue Devils inside the Fred E. Davis Multipurpose Center.

The Blue Devils got off to a quick start leading by eight points early in the game, before a defensive adjustment from SFCC got the Roadrunners back into the contest. SFCC (7-8, 2-0 in the MCCAC) led 36-29 at halftime.

"Our extended zone defense was really good tonight," said Brown. "This is the first time that we had played it all year. It helped us a lot. We are going to see more of that. It was a game changer for us."

Coleman led three Roadrunners in double figures with 18 points. Freshman wing Maurice Murray of Sicklerville, New Jersey pitched in with 16 points and two steals. Redshirt freshman guard Alonde LeGrand of Harlem, New York had two steals of his own. Smith pitched in with 12 points. Bryan pulled down a team-high 15 rebounds and blocked five shots. Smith and freshman guard Damaria Franklin of Chicago, Illinois tied for the team lead in assists dishing out four each.

SFCC returns to action after finals week and the holiday break with a game against Graceland University junior varsity on Jan. 8. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. inside the Fred E. Davis Multipurpose Center.

David Rohrbach

SFCC Athletics