Flyers Clinch Region 10 Regular Season Title at CCCC
The Sandhills Community College basketball team wrapped up the Region 10 regular season title with a 91-62 victory over Central Carolina CC in Sanford on Tuesday evening.
The No.1 ranked Flyers never trailed, and led by as many 35 points, as they improved to 5-0 in the conference and 25-3 overall with their 13th win in a row. The Cougars dropped to 7-18 and 2-3.
The leading scorers for Coach Mike Apple's squad were Bryan Quiller with 20 points, LeNijel Robinson with 19 and Jamori McDougald with 18. McDougald connected on four of his six shots from beyond the arc and Robinson was three for four.
Robinson and Zac Sledge each grabbed seven rebounds to lead in that department. Robinson and McDougald were the leaders in assists with seven apiece.
The Flyers close out regular season play with a conference game against Mountain Gateway CC (2-3, 6-16) at 1 p.m. on Saturday in Clifton Forge, VA.
Leading 41-29 at halftime, Jaquan Thurman set a tone by drawing charges twice in the early moments of the second half. The Flyers went on from there to break the game wide open, outscoring the Cougars 26-7 to take a lead of 67-36 with 11 minutes remaining.
McDougald canned a pair of threes and handed out two assists, and Robinson contributed seven points during the spree. Quiller scored a dozen points in the second half.
"We played good the first 10 minutes of the second half and then kind of coasted in," Apple said afterward. "When we started pushing the ball, and pitching it ahead, we were really, really good. Unfortunately we didn't do that a whole lot. We've got to play with a bigger sense of urgency for 40 minutes."
The win means there will be an additional strip added to the Region 10 title banner on display at The Hangar.
"I'm very proud of my team, but at the same time, I don't think anybody is really satisfied with just that," Apple added. "We want to keep this going, make a deep run and I hope that will happen."
Looking ahead, Central Carolina will host the Region 10 tournament on February 25 and 26. The No. 1 seeded Flyers will face the the No. 4 seed in one of Saturday's semi-final games with the championship contest following on Sunday.
C. Bergmann