By Benny Rogers/TVCC Sports Information
It’s on to the quarterfinals for the Cardinals and Lady Cardinals!
Both teams scored wins yesterday in the second rounds of the NJCAA tournaments. The 12th-seeded Cardinals rallied from a 16-point deficit in the first half to nab an 88-85 win against No. 5-seeded and 31-3 Northeastern. The top-seeded Lady Cardinals took care of 17th-seeded Western Nebraska in 77-48 fashion.
The Cardinals’ game was originally scheduled to tip off at 8:30 p.m. Instead, due to a pair of overtime games earlier in the day, it began at 10:10 p.m. and didn’t finish until 12:10 a.m.
Midway through the first half, the Cardinals trailed 27-11. By halftime they had pulled within five, 42-37.
Dedrick Basile led the Cardinals with 18 points. Malcolm Riley had 14, Octavius Ellis 14, Patrick Ingram 12, Josh Robinson 11 and Aldonis Foote 10.
The Cardinals were 9 of 14 from three-point range and 23 of 30 from the free throw line.
Next up for the Cardinals is 13th-seeded Harcum 2 p.m. Thursday in the quarterfinals. Harcum scored a 92-74 win against South Georgia Tech to improve to 31-3.
The Cardinals, who are now 10-4 in national tournament games, will carry a 29-6 record into Thursday’s game. The 29 wins is the third most in a season in school history, trailing only 33 in 1982 and 30 in 1995.
In their 70th national tournament game in 19 national tournament appearances, the Lady Cardinals hit midway through the first half and build a 40-20 lead en route to improving to 33-1 on the year. Western Nebraska closed with a 31-5 record.
Adut Bulgak topped the Lady Cardinal scoring with 15 points. She also had 12 rebounds. Also scoring in double figures were LeeLee Grant with 14, Jazmine Spears 12, Deborah Meeks 11 and Shlonte’ Allen 11.
The Lady Cardinals are now 54-16 in national tournament games and have won 26 straight games and nine straight national tournament games.
Next up for the Lady Cardinals is ninth-seeded Northwest Florida State (26-6) at 1 p.m. Thursday. Northwest Florida State advance with an 81-80 overtime win over eighth-seed South Georgia Tech.
TVCC is one of two NJCAA Division 1 schools with both its teams still alive in the tournaments. Chipola is the other.
On hand for the Lady Cardinals’ game were John and Mary Margaret Budke, the parents of Kurt Budke, the former Lady Cardinal, Louisiana Tech and Oklahoma State coach, who was killed in a plane crash in November of 2011. The Budkes are regulars at the tournament, which has been played in their hometown of Salina since 1998.
All Lady Cardinal tournament games will be available for viewing online atwww.njcaatv.ihigh.com. In fact, all tournament games will be webcast. Also, for audio only, you can hear the games at www.KSAL.com.
