OVERLAND, Kan. – The Dallas Christian College men's basketball team saw its storied run end on Friday night in the semifinal round of the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Southwest Regional Tournament. The host school Kanas Christian College defeated its second opponent from the South Division on its own court with a 70-64 victory.
After being up as many as six points midway through the first half, the Falcons went on a 14-0 run to turn the tide of the game, as DCC went cold for eight minutes until a two by
Joseph Allen. Down eight points out of the break, the host team surged to its first double-digit lead of the game, with the greatest margin being 15. The Crusaders showed they were not going to go quietly as they quickly worked the deficit to four points with seven minutes to go. KCC fought back and saw out the win, as the Crusaders never came any closer despite their opportunities.
Jairus Allen and
Tilyr Hobson delivered outstanding performances as the duo had 10 made field goals and eclipsed 20 points. The pair combined for 55 points with Allen scoring his second highest total of the season in the last two games after dropping 30 points on Monday versus Randall University in the play-in game. Allen shot 50 percent from three and had all the team's four made trifectas. He also grabbed five rebounds to go with a steal and assist.
Hobson was the other player that stood out with 20 points and game-high 16 boards for a double-double. He dished three assists.
Joseph Allen added seven points, while
Tyjuan Battles and
Jason Makayabo each had six points and combined for seven assists. The guard tandem went 6-of-7 at the free throw line.
DCC leaned on its starters with a quartet of them logging at least 35 minutes. Only
Jordan Harris played double-digit minutes with 11.
The Crusaders shot well at 46.4 percent but struggled from long range at 4-of-18. The Crusaders were 8-for-14 at the free throw line. While DCC outdid the Falcons on points in the paint (38-34) and fastbreak points (10-6), it was the opposition that benefited from two areas that have been strengths for DCC during the hot streak, which were points off turnovers (16-9) and second chance points (22-13). This was particularly noticeable in the opening stanza with KCC leading 11-0 in points from miscues and 13-2 on second chance scores.
Vince Smith was the leading scorer for the Falcons with 21 points thanks to a 4-for-7 effort from three. He also had five boards. Javarius Washington chipped in 13 points and four steals. KCC swiped 13 steals were only turned the ball over 11 times.
Things started out nicely for the Crusaders with
Jairus Allen hitting a trey and Hobson scoring on a fastbreak that was assisted by Makaybo in the opening minute. The Crusaders jumped to a 9-3 advantage and would lead by as many as six in the early going. A three-pointer by Smith knotted the game at 13 just under six minutes into the game as the Falcons showed it was going to be a competitive night. The Crusaders got back to a six-point lead on a triple by
Jairus Allen, which came on an assist from
Caleb Willis. Washington answered with a trey for the Falcons and then Jackson Hall nailed another three to tie things at 25. With seven minutes left in the first, Darion Williams put KCC up for the rest of the game. It wasn't a huge surge, as the game remained a two possession deficit with four minutes to go. It was just a long cold spell that DCC seemed to not be able to generate anything until
Joseph Allen got DCC back to within six (33-27) with just over two minutes before intermission. The halftime score was 38-30.
The first five points went to the Falcons as Smith had a three and Washington got a two. Hobson answered to get DCC on the board, but an offensive rebound by Elazar Conley would give him a three-point play the old fashioned way and open a 14-point lead. Down 15, DCC scored six straight points to slash the score to single-digits for the first time since the start of the half. With just under the midway point of the half, Battles made two free throws and then got an assist to
Joseph Allen to make it a 53-48 deficit. Both teams missed three's, but Hall had an answer to push the difference to eight. DCC seemed to be finding that magical burst of energy that had identified them this spring, as Hobson grabbed a steal and found
Jairus Allen on the breakaway to make it 56-52.
The Falcons got the next points on a steal by Ra'Shod Wilson who scored on the fastbreak and then DCC missed two chances to score. A three-point shot was off but the offensive rebound to Hobson led to him being fouled, but he missed the first of the one-in-one. Smith had the next points and then a turnover led to Wilson drilling a trey to make it a double-digit lead again with five to play.
Joseph Allen converted on the three-point play but the Falcons were able to exchange baskets and hold off a tough DCC group that had made its presence felt this week in Kansas City.
This Crusaders team had won a season-high four games and was playing their third elimination game since Monday. They had also played seven games dating back to February 12. Headlining this stretch of games included wins to No. 3 (at the time) Champion Christian College and No. 2 Manhattan Christian College, which the latter was an overtime thriller in the opening round.
DCC moves to 7-15 overall and 7-7 against teams that are within the same regional. This includes a 7-3 mark since playing Ozark Christian College to an overtime win in January. It was DCC's first semifinals appearance in the regional since 2017-18.
Head Coach
Dwight Coleman in his second season watched his group of guys improve from year one and still has a young roster. No single-player on this team is listed as a junior on the court and after missing the regional tournament a year ago, were able to make it to the second round after facing a tough play-in game with a hot shooting Randall University that was over 60 percent from the field most of the night and a top two nationally ranked Manhattan team on a 10-game winning streak that had the Southwest Region MVP and Coach of the Year. That MVP also scored a clutch three with 2.7 seconds left to force overtime after DCC had delivered multiple defensive stops prior. DCC would outlast the top seed in the last five minutes in what could arguably be the best game of the entire tournament.
Kansas Christian College moves to 10-13 overall and will play the top seed out of the South Division, Arlington Baptist University. The Patriots blew out Barclay College and Southwestern Adventist University in the previous rounds.
Dallas Christian will turn its attention to the Association of Christian College Athletics (ACCA) Tournament hosted by Ozark Christian College, hosted in Joplin, Missouri. That tournament is slated for next week and the bracket will be announced soon. A season ago, the Crusaders went 3-1 over that tournament with wins over Oak Hills Christian, Champion Christian, and Ozark Christian. A four-point loss in the second game to Baptist Bible College was the lone blemish, as the Crusaders eclipsed 110 points in three games and played their best basketball of the year.
"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."
