This was a game the Cyclones wanted, and nearly had, but for the nagging persistence of the Waubonsee Community College Chiefs. Moraine Valley lost this battle in double overtime 104-94.
The final score is not indicative of how hard the Cyclones fought. But most of their fire came after the first half. The offense struggled at the start while the Chiefs couldn't miss between three-pointers and free throws. Davion Lawrence had a couple of three-pointers and drives that helped fuel the Cyclones, but they were still down by 15 after 10 minutes. At halftime, the Cyclones were down 43-31.
The second half, however, is where Moraine Valley came alive. Enari Thomas turned up the intensity and started driving to the basket like he can to narrow the deficit. Around the seven-minute mark, the Cyclones put on the pressure, causing the Chiefs to run out the clock a few times for turnovers. Moraine Valley earned their first lead of the night after Luis Acevedo stole the ball and scored, getting ahead 68-67. The Chiefs then went on an 8-0 run to regain the lead, but it was short-lived. Moraine Valley stopped them from scoring the next three minutes and went on an offensive tear. Acevedo, Javonte McKenzie and Thomas scored, but Acevedo put his team ahead again with a steal and free throw. With 20 seconds left on the clock, the Cyclones led 78-75. The clock ran down to 1.9 seconds when the Chiefs had possession and sunk another three to send the game into overtime.
The score remained close the next five minutes in the first overtime. Waubonsee went ahead 89-86 on a three and free throw before Acevedo tied it with a field goal and free throw of his own to send the game into a second overtime. What hurt the Cyclones in those final five minutes were missing free throws while the Chiefs sunk them all.
Even though this was the final game of the regular season, the Cyclones start with a clean slate next week as they start Region 4 playoffs.
Before this game, the Cyclones recognized their sophomores and their contributions this season: Acevedo, McKenzie, Lawrence, Thomas, David Reyes, Nicco Reyes and Ahmad Jarad.