The Paris News

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — An inability to make the open shot cost Paris Junior College a chance at the 2008 NJCAA championship following Tuesday's opening round 63-57 loss to Southeastern Illinois College.

It was a game the Dragons had no business losing.

PJC (28-6) plays Vincennes College today at 3 p.m. in the consolation bracket. The loser goes home. Vincennes blew a double-digit lead in the final minutes against No. 4 Salt Lake Community College and lost 65-61.

The Dragons shot 34.8 percent from the field in the second half on 8 of 23 shooting, and missed open shots throughout the game. Inside and out, PJC missed shots it normally makes with ease, and shot 37.5 percent in the game.

“We didn't make the plays when we had a chance,” PJC coach Ross Hodge said. “That's the difference at this level between moving on to the next round and playing in the consolation.”

The Falcons (28-6) advanced to the second round to play Salt Lake CC today at 6 p.m.

Their defense played some role in PJC's struggles from the field, and helped keep the Dragons scoreless from the field during an 8:04 stretch in the first half.

Despite its offensive woes, PJC led by two at halftime, 29-27, after Eric Tramiel scored eight points during the last 5:17.

Instead of getting frustrated, though, Southeastern Illinois came out of halftime firing on all cylinders. The Falcons opened the second half on a 12-0 run during the initial 4:42 to take a 39-29 lead.

From that point on, try as they might, the Dragons never regained the lead.

“It wasn't really frustrating because we knew we could play a lot better,” Southeastern Illinois' Travis Marion said. “Being down two was good with us not playing as good as we could.”

The Dragons cut their deficit to two with 1:03 left when DeCarlos Riley stole an inbounds pass and made a layup immediately after Raymond Sims hit two free throws.

PJC came up with a big defensive stop with less than 30 seconds left when Courtney Waters, who was draped all over Marion, forced the Falcon guard to miss a jumper. But Southeastern's Andree Wilson grabbed the offensive rebound and scored on a putback and got fouled. He completed the three-point play and effectively ended the game with 23.9 seconds left.

“In the stretch, it just came down to one play,” PJC sophomore Mike Smith said.

Those were Wilson's first points since 14:04 remained in the game. He scored a game-high 18.

“I was just there,” Wilson said. “Get the rebound and finished.”

The Dragons were heartbroken after the game, and several players shed tears in the locker-room because they got a pretty decent draw in the first round and let a wonderful opportunity slip away.

“Whether you say it's a game you should have won, I can't say that,” Hodge said. “It was definitely a game you look back and see a lot of opportunities to make plays. We just weren't able to make them.”

Waters, Riley and Smith — all sophomores — agreed it was a game from which the Dragons should have emerged victorious.

“I just think we weren't ready to play,” Smith said. “We didn't realize how important this game was. Just because we won the conference tournament, guys thought it was going to be easy.”

Midway through the first half, the Dragons grabbed a seven-point lead after James Livingston hit a 3-pointer from the wing, but the Falcons reeled off the next eight points to reclaim the lead.

“You have to give them credit,” Tramiel said. “They were tougher than us. They wanted it more.”

Tramiel led the Dragons with 15 points, six rebounds and three steals. Riley and Charles Funches, who was 4 for 4 from the field, each scored 12. Sims had eight points, four assists and two steals.

Ronnie Morgan and Marcus Carson combined for five points on 2 of 7 shooting. Morgan added five rebounds.

The Dragons made 3 of 12 3-point attempts. Riley was 2 of 6, and Livingston was 1 of 3.

Southeastern Illinois, which shot 45.5 percent from the field and made 5 of 9 3-pointers, got 11 points each from Kyle Oldham and Monie Hudson.

SOUTHEASTERN ILLINOIS 63, PJC 57

SEI 27 36 — 63

PJC 29 28 — 57

Southeastern Illinois (28-6) — Andree Wilson 18, Monie Hudson 11, Kyle Oldham 11, Jeremiah Mitchell 6, Mohamed Ntumba 6, Travis Marion 5, Austin Hill 4, Nathaniel Mitchell 2. Free throws: 8-15. Field goals: 45.5 percent. Threes: 5-9 (Oldham 3, Hudson 2). Rebounds: 33 (Wilson 6, Ntumba 6). Assists: 8 (Marion 4). Steals: 5. Turnovers: 19.

PJC (28-6) — Eric Tramiel 15, DeCarlos Riley 12, Charles Funches 12, Raymond Sims 8, James Livingston 3, Ronnie Morgan 3, Mike Smith 2, Marcus Carson 2. Free throws: 18-26. Field goals: 18-48. Threes: 3-12 (Riley 2, Livingston). Rebounds: 30 (Tramiel 6). Assists: 8 (Sims 4). Steals: 7 (Tramiel 3). Turnovers: 18.

NJCAA NATIONAL

TOURNAMENT RESULTS

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Here are the results from the NJCAA National Tournament after Tuesday’s first round:

Tuesday, March 18

Salt Lake CC 65, Vincennes College 61

Southeastern Illinois 63, PJC 57

Three Rivers CC 83, Eastern Wyoming 70

Eastern Arizona 69, Walters State CC 53

Northeastern Okla. A&M 78, Shelton State CC 65

Seward Coungty 90, Chipola 84 (OT)

Wednesday, March 19

South Plains College vs. Georgia Perimeter, 11 a.m.

Indian Hills CC vs. Itawamba CC, 1 p.m.

PJC vs. Vincennes, 3 p.m.

Salt Lake CC vs. Southeastern Illinois, 6 p.m.

Three Rivers CC vs. Eastern Arizona, 8 p.m.

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