Rockets beat Greyhounds to lead conference standings

— By JOEL GRAY

Rocket Launcher Live

Rockets’ Conference Preview

Following a 71-63 win, on Thurs., 1/10, on the road, against the Division-I Arkansas Baptist College Buffaloes, the Southern Arkansas University Tech Rockets finally got to play in its own division as Region 2 Conference play began on Saturday when the Rocket Men hosted the 10-3 Arkansas State University MidSouth Greyhounds. For consecutive weeks, the Greyhounds have received votes in the national Top 20 poll and it was currently the first team outside the rankings making it essentially the No. 21 team in the nation.

So the Rockets faced an important challenge right away, and— despite having another huge lead dwindle down the stretch—prevailed for its fourth consecutive victory since the Christmas break, defeating the highly-touted Greyhounds, 87-83 and improving to 11-7 overall, and more importantly 1-0 in Region 2, to lead the current standings in the conference.

The Greyhounds controlled the tip and the tempo for the first few minutes of the opening half, but Tech tamped down MidSouth’s early energy and took a 10-point lead into the locker room at intermission with the tally fixed at 53-43.

The second stanza saw the Rockets soar for the first six minutes, stretching their advantage to 18 points by the 14:06 mark of the half. MidSouth regrouped, however, and reigned-in the Rockets for the final eight-minutes until it was once again anybody’s game by the end. With under a minute to go, however, the Greyhounds were reduced to relying on the intentional foul, and the Rockets racked up enough free-throws to come away with the 4-point win.

ASU-MidSouth recorded five players in double-digit scoring, with Ike Moore on top of the list with 16. The Greyhounds fall to 10-4 overall, and 0-1 in Region 2 play.

The Rockets also racked up five in the double-digit category. Sheldon Steven continued to add to his Region 2 Points Leader stats, leading the way for Tech with 22. Will Bynum was next with 14, followed by Jaland Mitchell (12), and Malik Miller and Immanuel Anderson (11 apiece). Steven also lit it up from long range, sinking six from beyond the arc.

Tech will travel to Hot Springs on Thursday to take on the National Park College Nighthawks in another important Region 2 match up.

The Lady Rockets also notched another win, last Thursday improving to 7-4, knocking off the Lady Buffaloes of Arkansas Baptist College, 54-27. The 0-10 MidSouth Women’s team, however, have canceled the remainder of their season, so the Lady Rockets will have to wait till Thursday to begin Region 2 play in Hot Springs vs. the National Park College Lady Nighthawks.

Region 2 of the NJCAA is comprised of all the junior colleges in Oklahoma and Arkansas, however, on the Division-II level there are no junior college basketball teams in Oklahoma; therefore, only these four Arkansas schools will play for the Div.-II Region 2 title:

• North Arkansas Community College Pioneers (Harrison, AR)

• Arkansas State University-MidSouth Greyhounds (West Memphis, AR)

• Southern Arkansas University-Tech Rockets (East Camden, AR)

• National Park College Nighthawks (Hot Springs, AR)

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