Harris' Double-Double Along With Berry's 11 Assists Lead Pirates To Shootout Victory Over Mavericks
By Jay Henry
December 5, 2018
INDEPENDENCE, Kan. - Coming off a struggle in the last game, the Independence Pirates returned home looking to get back on track against the Northwest Tech Mavericks. The contest was very close all evening and went down to the wire, but the Pirates pulled out the huge win, 80-76.
The Pirates had three players in double figures with 21 points from Jibril Harris, 15 points from Ricky Edwards and 10 points from Anquaevious Pollard. Harris also recorded a double-double with 10 rebounds and the Pirates were led by Tyreece Berry with 11 assists.
"I thought we hung in it all night with a very good team tonight," coach Tony Turner said. Our bench performed very well, and we played with a lot of pace to come out on top. I thought that Jibril, Ricky, Anquaevious and Tyreece played great and even though they were tired they battled it out."
"Going forward to Saturday, we travel to Barton and they'll come out hungry, so we just have to play our game like we did tonight for the entire 40 minutes."
In the first half, Chris Freeman was fouled on a dunk attempt, but made both shots giving the Mavericks a 2-0 lead and another foul made it 4-0 with two shots by Daekwon Gross just before a layup by Jibril Harris put the Pirates on the board.
Independence tied the game at 4-4 with a layup by Tonje Durham and then took the lead with a floater from Ricky Edwards. Edwards found the basket again with a layup, but a quick three-pointer from Northwest Tech was the answer before another three by Edwards.
A 10-5 run gave the Mavericks a 17-16 lead at the 9:30 mark, but Independence regained the lead with a jumper from Derrick Redmon. A hook shot from Harris stretched the lead to three points, but a long shot by Brand Atwood tied the game at 20-20.
A run of 6-3 capped by a layup from Edwards had the Pirates up by three, but Miles Gibson cut it down to one before a three by Durham. Gibson found the basket on back to back possessions followed by a layup from Freeman to give Northwest Tech a 31-28 advantage at the 4:00 mark.
A hard foul on Sean Pollack cut the lead to two as the shots from the line were successful, but Gibson made a shot inside pushing it back to three. A layup by Durham made the score 33-32, but the Mavericks answered with a floater by Justin Blunt with 2:00 remaining in the half.
Two free throws by Blunt made the score 37-32 and the Mavericks added one more point before a layup by Anquaevious Pollard took the score to 38-34 Northwest Tech at the half.
The second half began with a huge three-pointer by Harris to cut the lead down to one and the Pirates would take the lead after a layup from the sophomore. A layup by Freeman was answered by another shot from Harris giving the Pirates a 41-40 advantage with 17:30 remaining.
"The win feels great, but I don't want for us to get complacent and just continue working hard to be successful," said Harris. "To continue our success, we just have to trust our coaches and the process, and we'll have great rewards as the season progresses."
A layup by Brandon Conwright gave the Mavericks a one-point advantage and a jumper from Groos pushed the lead to three, but a foul on Durham saw the lead go back to one with both shots being converted.
A three-pointer from Henry Hampton was answered by Redmon with one of his own and the score was 47-46 Mavericks just before a foul got two free throws from Ebon Jay. A layup by Mamady Djikine and a bucket from Pollard gave Independence a 50-49 advantage but a foul regained the lead for Northwest Tech with free throws from Hampton.
Redmon found the basket for a 52-51 Independence lead, but a quick layup by Freeman switched the lead again. A three-pointer by Tyreece Berry gave the Pirates a 55-53 advantage with 10:00 remaining, but a foul on Jay would cut the lead to one with one shot from the line.
With 9:23 remaining, Freeman was fouled on a dunk attempt and made both shots for a 56-55 Mavericks' lead, but a foul sent Harris to the line to tie it with one shot. Another foul sent Brandon Beloti to the line where he made both shots for a 58-56 Northwest Tech advantage, but a bucket by Pollack tied the game with 6:23 remaining.
Edwards made a three-pointer in response to one free throw for a 61-59 lead, but Blunt tied the game at 61-61 with a quick bank shot. After a foul sent Conwright to the line, the Mavericks held a one-point lead, but a three-point play from Pollack gave the Pirates a 64-62 advantage.
Gibson tied the game with a quick bucket inside and free throws from the sophomore gave Northwest Tech a two-point lead before a bucket from Pollard. The lead switched back and forth several times in the next few seconds, but a three-point play from Harris and layup Berry had Independence ahead 73-69 with 1:30 remaining.
Edwards torched the net for the 74-69 advantage, but Freeman converted a three-point play taking the lead down to four points. Free throws by Berry pushed the lead back to six, but a tip in by Jay brought the score to 78-74 with 27 seconds remaining. One free throw by Berry was answered with two by Gibson making the score 79-76 with three seconds left, but another free throw by Berry gave Independence all they needed for the victory.
Independence (7-5, 2-1) is back in action Saturday December 8 in Great Bend taking on the Barton Cougars with a 7:30 tip-off.