Thunderducks Top Bears to Move up DAC Standings

By Chase Upton

FARMERS BRANCH, Texas -- Dallas College Richland's No. 10 nationally-ranked men's basketball team topped Dallas College Brookhaven, 68-63, to secure its second win in Dallas Athletic Conference play.

Coming into this matchup, Richland (9-7, 2-1 DAC) and Brookhaven (12-9, 1-2) were notched at third place in the DAC standings, each having suffered one league loss. 

Sophomore guard Elijah Brown set the tone early for the Thunderducks in this one, scoring the team's first six points. Richland built a 33-27 lead over Brookhaven at halftime.

The Thunderducks didn't let go of their lead until Brookhaven's Curtis Trey Moffett's lay-in gave the Bears a 51-50 lead with eight-and-a-half minutes remaining in the game. Over a minute later, sophomore guard Jhi Jackson splashed home his second three-pointer of the game with seven minutes remaining to give the Thunderducks a 53-51 lead.

The game came down to the final possession after Richland's Taven Washington made a free throw to put Richland up 66-63 with 22.7 seconds left on the clock. Brookhaven then quickly advanced the ball down the court and called a timeout with 14.6 seconds remaining. Coming out of the timeout, the message from Thunderducks head coach Jon Havens was clear, "We're not going to overtime." And he was right, as the Thunderducks forced a game-sealing turnover, sealing the victory

Brown and Washington paced the Thunderducks in scoring with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Brown shot 6 of 11 from the field, and had three steals. Washington added five rebounds, a block and a steal. Freshmen Barrack Holland, Tre'Lin Green and Jerry Avery all added eight points apiece. Jackson had four rebounds and two blocks. Sophomore Rodrick Yarbrough pulled down six (two offensive) of the team's 28 rebounds to lead the Thunderducks in that category. 

The Thunderducks now stand alone at third in the DAC standings, trailing only Dallas College Eastfield (14-9, 3-0) and Dallas College North Lake (17-4, 3-0) for first place.

Richland's next matchup will be at home 6 p.m. Wednesday against Dallas College Cedar Valley (7-12, 0-3).