DALLAS, Texas – The Dallas Christian College men's basketball team captured its biggest victory of the 2021-22 season by defeating No. 3 Champion Christian College, 75-72, at home on Thursday night. In a game that was tight throughout and saw 11 ties and 13 lead changes, the Crusaders home faithful had plenty to get excited about in the team's last regular season home game.
DCC would gain the lead seven times compared to six by Champion Christian, and took the lead on a tip-in by Jason Makayabo with 10:24 left in the game (52-51). After a trey by Jalen Perez stretched the lead, the teams kept exchanging points as DCC remained in front but the Tigers were always a possession behind. With about five and a half minutes, Kyle Malone nailed a trey to make it 64-63. DCC responded with eight straight points that included the last four by Jordan Harris. His triple opened an eight point lead and then one-of-two free throws made it a nine-point lead with three minutes to go (72-63).
Champion Christian would not go away as it began applying pressure and scored the next six points to cut the gap to 72-69 with 1:16 left. After a missed shot by the Crusaders and under a minute, the Tigers got a three-point attempt, but missed. Tilyr Hobson, who was the leading scorer for the Crusaders with 17 points hit the backend of two free throws. With 29 ticks on the clock, Ezekiel Capaci swished the team's 10th three-pointer of the game to make it a one-point game (73-72). Hobson got fouled at 19 seconds and made the second-of-two free throws again, but Champion was in position to tie or take the lead with no shot clock as a factor. Both team's traded timeouts to strategize this crucial moment and Champion Christian missed the tying layup. Joseph Allen secured the important rebound on the right side of the glass and got fouled immediately.
The freshman out of Marshall, Texas, missed the first but had the second shot to make it what would end up being the final score. Champion Christian did get one last three-point shot off to try and force overtime but the shot was off and the "Cavalry" stormed the court to celebrate with the DCC Crusaders on the exciting win in what capped a successful "Crusader Day."
Hobson was the game's leading scorer in 30 minutes with 17 points. The sophomore from Fort Worth, Texas, posted eight rebounds, three steals, and two assists. Joseph Allen notched a double-double with 13 points and grabbed a game-high 16 boards. He went 7-for-8 at the free throw line. The 6-4 forward muscled a career-high in rebounds with five offensive boards to lead all players in that category. Tyjuan Battles in limited action due to foul trouble matched Perez as the next highest scorer with nine points. All of Perez's points came from downtown. 10 of the 11 players for DCC in the box score would record at least two points and one rebound.
The Crusaders shot well for the game, outdoing Champion Christian 41.5 percent to 36.1 percent overall. DCC made six three-pointers, and were also 15-for-24 at the free throw line. Champion did damage from the three-point arc, by making five per half, and were 18-for-28 at the charity line. A key to the game was 11 points off turnovers compared to five in the second stanza. That led to DCC having an overall 16-10 advantage. Another item to observe was DCC's 32-20 edge on points in the paint despite being undersized to a strong Champion Christian team. Finally, as second-year Head Coach Dwight Coleman's Crusaders are known for doing; the team held a 10-point advantage on fast break points, 14-4. This included a 10-2 edge in the first half.
Things were even from the opening jump, as the Crusaders took the first lead of the game on a Battles layup to make it 6-4. After an old fashioned three-point play, Battles put DCC up with a trifecta. A steal by Joseph Allen led to a fast break layup for Hobson. Despite leading for the next several minutes, a trey by Malone at 13:16 changed the lead again. Another three-pointer from Ariyon Williams opened the largest lead by either side at that juncture at five points.
DCC flashed some resiliency and showed off its flare on a long alley oop from Micah Tucker to Caleb Willis. Kyle-Jared Malarchar sank a triple to knot things at 20 just past the midway point of the opening quarter. The Tigers held the lead despite DCC tying things several times, until Perez had a trey with four minutes left to go up 33-32. Leads traded sides until a Hobson dunk on an offensive rebound at the front of the rim sent the gym into a frenzy. DCC led 38-36 at intermission.
Champion Christian scored first to level the score on the first play of the second half and matched its largest lead of the game of five early in the frame. The last time that lead was met was with 11:43 to go. The Crusaders turned the tide as mentioned above and garnered their greatest lead at nine with 3:03. Like the mighty opponent they faced, it would not be an easy finish. However, the Crusaders held on for their third straight home victory and are unbeaten at the friendly confines in February.
The Tigers had a quartet of double-digit scorers led by Malone's 15 points. He was 4-for-7 overall and 4-for-6 from the three-point line. Williams and Braylon Hawkins each contributed 13 points, while Marcus Blakely rounded out the group with 10. Williams was the leader on the boards with nine to almost have a double-double.
The win for DCC gives the team its fourth win in the last six games against a member of the National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association (NCCAA) Division II Southwest Regional. Three of those have come against South Divisional foes, Randall University, Southwestern Adventist University, and now Champion Christian.
The Tigers fell to 8-11 overall, but only lost their second regional game to move to 6-2. The other was at Southwestern Adventist.
Dallas Christian will conclude the regular season on the road this Saturday at Randall University. Tip-off is at 1 p.m. The Southwest Regional Tournament is scheduled to be at Kansas Christian College in Overland Park, Kansas, starting Wednesday, February 23. Seeding will be voted on by the Regional Divisional head coaches this weekend to determine the bracket. A possible play-in game could be required for Dallas Christian, which it would host on Monday versus Randall if necessary.
"Dallas Christian educates and mentors students to be people of influence engaging in their calling to the work of Christ in the church and in the world."
