Pioneers advance to semi-finals
March Madness has started all over the country. Teams are vying for tournament titles and and higher seeding. The same began at Bridges Arena on the campus of Spartanburg Methodist College today. Eight teams from NJCAA Region X took the floor looking to advance in this years tournament with hopes of advancing to the NJCAA National Championship.
Game one featured #3 seed Indians of USC Salkahatchie defeat the #6 Brunswick CC
Game two featured #2 seed Clinton JC defeat the 7th seeded Fire Ants of USC Sumter
Game three had the #4 seeded Knights of Aiken Technical defeat #5 seed Cape Fear CC
Game four showcased the #1 seeded SMC Pioneers and the #8 seeded Denmark Tech
Denmark Tech looked like they would try and put on Cinderella's slipper right away as the hung with the top seeded Pioneers throughout the first half. Denmark Tech took a 30-26 lead into the locker room in front of a packed but stunned Bridges Arena crowd.
Both teams came out of the locker room focused on the second half but SMC continued to play a little tight on the offensive end of the floor. Region X Coach of the Year Jeff Brookman stated "We were getting good looks on the offensive end but just could not seem to put the ball in the basket in the first half. I thought Ronell Crockett was the only player that was completely engaged on both ends of the floor early on. He was very aggressive on the offensive end and helped create some easy baskets for us. I was confident that, as long as our defensive effort stayed consistent in the second half we would be in good shape and eventually we found our flow on the offensive end of the floor."
Behind the play of Crockett (15 point- 6 rebounds) and Region X Player of the Year Mario Pendarvis (16 points and 9 boards) the Pioneers went on a 15-4 run midway through the second half and put away a spirited Denmark Tech team.
Dajohn Rowland added 13 points and Terrell Magazine chipped in 10 points.
SMC now advances to the semi finals and will take on Aiken Technical College on Friday night @ 7:00pm. The 5:00pm semi-final will feature USC-Salkahatchie and #2 seed Clinton JC.
