TCC Men's Basketball comes back to beat Trinidad State, advances to the second round

HUTCHINSON, Kansas (March 20, 2023) – TCC Men's Basketball came from behind to defeat Trinidad State College 78-75 on Monday night in the first round of the NJCAA Tournament. The Eagles advance to the second round where they will play Salt Lake Community College on Wednesday at 2:00 PM CDT. 

"I'm extremely happy and proud of those guys," said head coach Rick Cabrera after the win. "Being down 10 at halftime, I put some pressure on them in the locker room. To their credit they upped their ante on the defensive end."

Trinidad State shot 7-for-13 from three in the first half, giving them a 44-34 lead going into the break. The Eagles held them to just two made threes in the second half, and only 11 total made field goals. 

The win was Cabrera's 150^th of his head coaching career. 

TCC trailed for most of the game, and they found themselves down five points with just over a minute left in the second half. Malachi Davis hit a three with 59 seconds left to make it a two-point game. Trinidad State took thirty seconds off the clock after Davis's three, but TCC forced a shot clock violation to get it back with 27 seconds remaining. 

Davis brought the ball up and was fouled with 23 seconds left. He made the first free throw to cut the Trojans' lead to just one but missed the second. There was a mad dash for the rebound, but it was Tom Mark who jumped out of the way after a Trinidad State player attempted to throw the ball at him. It bounced between Mark's legs and into the hands of Davis who drove to the basket, scored and was fouled in the process. Trinidad State star guard Dejour Reaves missed a three-pointer with four seconds left, and Isaiah Cathey iced the game with a free throw at the other end. 

"That's not coaching," said Cabrera when asked about the hectic final seconds, "that's just strictly toughness."

Davis finished with 31 points. 

"I've said it from day one," said Cabrera, "in my opinion he's the most talented guard in the country and he proved that. He's allowed to make mistakes, even though they drive me crazy, but he's allowed to make mistakes because I know he'll make up for them."

Ja'Quavian Florence added 17 points, with a chunk of those coming from three second half threes. He also recorded seven rebounds, two assists, and three steals. Tom Mark finished with 16 points on 7-for-9 shooting. He protected the rim as well, tallying three blocks. 

Wednesday's game against Salt Lake will be the first-ever matchup between the two programs. A win would put TCC in the quarterfinals against the winner of Moberly and Dodge City. It would also mark the fourth 30-win season in program history. 

More information on the NJCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship can be found here.