Indians go double OT to Region IX victory

TRINIDAD, Colo. – It took two overtimes Saturday, but the McCook Community College men are in the win column in the Region IX South standings. MCC’s win came over Trinidad State 91-89 after starting south division play with four disappointing losses.

“Finally! This was a great team win,” said MCC coach Kyle Drennan. “We got punched and fought back.”

Down 68-65 with 14 seconds left in regulation, freshman Boaz Quinlan (Beavertown, Ore.) launched a 3-point-shot to tie the game and send it to overtime.

The Indians trailed 79-74 with 54.4 seconds left in the first overtime and with 5.2 seconds left, were down 81-78 when Quinlan was fouled taking a three-point shot.

He was sent to the free-throw line, where he hit all three, to help send the game into the second overtime.

“We had guys who don’t play a lot take full advantage of their opportunities when they presented themselves,” Drennan said.

In the third minute of the second overtime period, a Quinlan 3-pointer and a break-away layup put MCC up 86-82 and a basket by sophomore Raheim Sullivan (Toronto, Ontario) with 2:00 left in the first overtime gave the Indians an 88-82 lead, but a Trinidad 3-pointer with 6.6 seconds left closed the Trojans to 90-89.

Sullivan hit one of two free throws left with 5.1 seconds left and Trinidad State wasn’t able to get a shot off as time expired.

“We had guys diving on the floor and giving everything they had. I put ‘get a win by any means necessary’ on the board before the game and we did,” Drennan said. “It was the most connected we have been all year.”

Quinlan led MCC with 22 points, making seven of eight shots from the field, including five-for-six from the 3-point line and the critical three-for-three from the free-throw line at the end of the first overtime.