MCC Holiday Tournament Day Three Recap

Saturday, December 31, 2022 - 1:45 pm | Dylan DeVlieger

The Salt Lake Community College Bruins won their second straight (fourth overall) MCC holiday tournament championship Thursday night. 

In the championship game the Bruins took on the Wolverines from San Bernardino Valley College. The first half was a back and forth battle as the Bruins were able to escape with a 38-37 lead going into the break. Coming out of the locker room, Salt Lake was able to make adjustments to secure the victory, 70-65. With their second place finish, SBVC now has two runner-up finishes in the tournament. 

Salt Lake was led in scoring by Jaquan Scott who posted 17 points and seven rebounds. The Wolverines had two players with 20 or more points as Dominique Daniels had 22 and Armon Muldrew scored 24 in the loss. 

The South Plains Texans earned third place as they defeated Seward County, 100-63. Led in scoring by Ismail Habib who posted a near triple double with 19 points, 10 assists, and eight rebounds, the Texans dominated the game from start to finish. South Plains took a 13 point lead into halftime and kept their foot on the gas in the final half as they outscored the Saints, 51-27. Niko Smith led Seward County off the bench as he had 16 in the loss. 

The Justice College Lions took home 5th place and the Consolation Championship as they knocked off Glendale, 76-69. The Lions came out firing on all cylinders as they started the game on an 11-3 run. They ended the half with a 33-27 lead and never looked back as they sealed the deal in the second half. Justice had four players score in double figures as David Stallworth had 18, Ray King scored 17, while Roman Gandarilla and Kam Parks both tallied 13. The Gauchos were led in scoring by Eric Blackwell who was tied for a game high with 18 points. 

In the opening contest of the final day, the Snow College Badgers claimed 7th place in the tournament as they beat the MCC Thunderbirds, 105-75. Snow used their size advantage over Mesa to their advantage as they had 60 points in the paint compared to the T-Birds 30. The Badgers also out rebounded MCC 46-19. Both Hayden Franson and Chase Potter had double-doubles for the Badgers as Franson had 20 points, Potter had 18 and each grabbed 11 boards in the win. Timmy Johnson led the Thunderbirds in scoring as he had 19. All Mesa starters scored in double figures, but their bench was only able to net nine points in the loss. 

The All-Tournament team was made up of five players from four different schools. Christian Coleman (South Plains), Ray King (Justice), Alejandro Vasquez (Salt Lake), Dominique Daniels (San Bernardino Valley), and Armon Muldrew (San Bernardino Valley) all earned honors. Jaquan Scott of Salt Lake was named Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament as he averaged 16.6 points and 8.6 rebounds over the three games.