The Roadrunners (3-8) opened their portion of the Nov. 28-29 Moberly Classic with a hard-fought 88-87 victory over the Illinois Central College Cougars from East Peoria, Illinois. SFCC played that game with only five players.

SFCC had a 50-37 lead early in the second half. The 13-point advantage was the largest held by either team. The Cougars cut the lead to three points in the waning seconds of the game. The Roadrunners fouled an Illinois Central player on a three-point shot to tie the game with three-tenths of a second remaining. The player missed the first free throw attempt before making the final two. SFCC inbounded the ball to preserve the victory.

"Our players played smart and played together," said Roadrunners Head Coach Kevin Thomas. "We stayed out of foul trouble, which was big. It was a great team win."

Sophomore forward Selvedin Planincic registered a double double, scoring 31 points. He also pulled down a team-high 13 rebounds and led his team in blocked shots with three. Freshman wing Donnavan Hastings contributed 24 points and led in steals with three. Freshman guard Joshua Bailey added 17 points and freshman guard Ra'Chaun Martin pitched in with 11 points and a team-high eight assists. Freshman wing Ryan Surface dished out seven assists.

SFCC closed out its portion of the classic taking on the College of Faith Warriors from West Memphis, Arkansas. The Warriors jumped out to an early 14-5 advantage with less than 16 minutes remaining in the first half. SFCC chipped away to take a 49-39 lead into halftime.

"Offensively we did some good things," said Thomas. "We just couldn't rebound and that was the key to the game. We couldn't get a defensive stop down the stretch."

The Roadrunners pushed their advantage to 18 points in the second half. The Warriors used their depth to fight all the way back to tie the game at 92 going into overtime. The College of Faith outscored SFCC 12-5 in the overtime period to secure a 104-97 win.

Martin led five Roadrunners in double-figure scoring with 25 points and dished out a team-high 12 assists to record a double double. He also led the team in steals with six. Hastings contributed 20 points and 16 rebounds to record another double double. Planincic contributed 19 points and tied Hastings for the team lead in blocked shots with two apiece. Freshman guard Hakeem Coney pitched in with 14 points and Bailey added 11.

David Rohrbach

SFCC Athletics Department