TCC's season comes to an end in NJCAA Semifinals

HUTCHINSON, Kansas (March 24, 2023) — TCC Men's Basketball's season came to an end on Friday evening after a close loss against #1 seed John A. Logan. TCC ends the season as Panhandle Conference Champions, Region 8 runners-up, and NJCAA Tournament semifinalists for the third time in program history. This was the final game at TCC for head coach Rick Cabrera, who has accepted the same job at Northwestern State. 

"It was a hard-fought game," said an emotional Cabrera after the loss. "I'm just really proud of these guys. It stinks that it has to end this way, but we gave ourselves a chance."

For the first time in the tournament, the Eagles led at halftime. The Vols came back with some high-powered offense in the second half, scoring 54 points on 60% shooting.  

Malachi Davis (G, Soph.) continued his historic tournament, scoring 31 points in the loss. He finished just 16 points shy of the tournament record for total points. His performance in Hutchinson earned him All-Tournament honors. 

The Eagles had a chance to inbound the ball down three with less than 10 seconds remaining. Malachi Davis's pass got away from Tom Mark, the loose ball was recovered by the Vols who dunked it at the other end right before the buzzer, extending their lead to five. 

Addison Patterson returned to the Eagles' rotation after a three-game suspension, and he scored 26 points off the bench on 7-for-14 shooting. Patterson, like the rest of the team, was lights out from the free throw line, knocking down 11 of his 12 attempts. The team shot 24-for-26 (92.3%) from the line. 

RayQuan Taylor (F/C, Soph.) also had major contributions from the bench, scoring 16 points on 6-for-7 shooting. Taylor was two points away from matching his career-high of 18 which came on December 4 against Forges Sports Academy. 

TCC finishes with a 31-6 record on the season. It was just the fourth 30-win season in program history.