Commodores Go For Third Straight Regional Title Vs. Owens
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Lorain County Community College | 29 | 48 | 77 |
|
Owens Community College | 40 | 50 | 90 |
Who: Lorain County Community College (5-22) vs. Owens Community College (7-18)
What: NJCAA DIII Region 12 Championship
When: Saturday, February 24, 2024 - Noon
Where: Student Health and Activities Center (SHAC), 7315 Championship Dr W, Perrysburg, OH 43551, Owens Community College
Why at Owens: Owens' 10-point win against LCCC on December 13, 2023 beats LCCC's 3-point win on February 14, 2024
How to Watch: https://www.youtube.com/@OwensExpress/streams or at Athletics.lorainccc.edu
February 23, 2024 - - With the conclusion of the regular season, the Commodores enter the postseason which starts on Saturday in Perrysburg, Ohio where they will take on Owens Community College in the NJCAA DIII Region 12 Championship. A win this Saturday and on March 2 will get them into the NJCAA National Championships in Herkimer, N.Y. in mid-March.
The Commodores split the season series with Owens, their DIII counterparts in the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference, losing to the Express on the road on Dec. 13, 2023 and getting a win at home this month.
The Commodores are powered by the scoring of Deonte Benejan (Queens, N.Y./Lorain HS). The freshman is averaging 27 points per game this season which is first in the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference and second overall among all DIII players in the country. In 23 games played this season, Benejan has failed to score more than 20 points just twice and has scored 30+ 10 times this season.
Flanking Benejan are guards Jayden Maxwell (Chicago, Ill./Butchel CLC) and Tavion Pride (Cleveland, Ohio/Aurora HS) to create a three-headed attack that buoys most of the Commodores offense. Maxwell is averaging 15.7 points per game with 6.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 25 games. Pride joined the team in January and has averaged 20.9 points per game with 7.9 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game in 12 games played.
Rounding out the rest of the Commodores starting lineup is Tiyorne Coleman (New York City, N.Y./Bunnell HS) and Abdulaziz Sesay (Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa) at the forward positions. Corey Jones Jr. (Lorain, Ohio/Clearview HS) and Timothy Kikola (Vermilion, Ohio/Vermilion HS) provide spot up shooting off the bench.
Owens is led by the scoring of Jalen Clark who is averaging 13.3 points per game and Breon Hicks with 10.3 points per game.
| LCCC | Per Game | Owens |
|---|---|---|
| 82.1 | Points | 68.7 |
| 42.3% | Field Goal % | 38.9% |
| 32.1% | 3-Point FG % | 27.1% |
| 72.0% | FT% | 65.6% |
| 37.4 | Rebounds | 33.0 |
| 11.9 | Assists | 13.6 |
| 8.9 | Steals | 7.6 |
| 2.1 | Blocks | 3.3 |
| 13.4 | Turnovers | 14.7 |
| 15.6 | Fouls | 15.3 |
| 49.0% | Opponent FG% | 45.9% |
| 33.1% | Opponent 3FG% | 32.5% |
| No. | Player | GP | GS | MIN | AVG | FG-FGA | PCT | 3FG-3FGA | PCT | FT-FTA | PCT | OFF | DEF | TOT | AVG | PF | DQ | A | A/G | TO | TO/G | A/TO | BLK | BLK/G | STL | STL/G | PTS | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| 12 | Deonte Benejan | 23 | 19 | 754 | 32.8 | 205-430 | 47.7 | 25-72 | 34.7 | 186-218 | 85.3 | 14 | 62 | 76 | 3.3 | 57 | 3 | 48 | 2.1 | 63 | 2.7 | 0.8 | 5 | 0.2 | 32 | 1.4 | 621 | 27.0 |
| 0 | Tavion Pride | 12 | 12 | 451 | 37.6 | 84-212 | 39.6 | 18-56 | 32.1 | 65-90 | 72.2 | 26 | 69 | 95 | 7.9 | 33 | 1 | 51 | 4.3 | 37 | 3.1 | 1.4 | 6 | 0.5 | 19 | 1.6 | 251 | 20.9 |
| 10 | Jayden Maxwell | 25 | 23 | 849 | 34.0 | 152-343 | 44.3 | 28-89 | 31.5 | 60-93 | 64.5 | 42 | 126 | 168 | 6.7 | 53 | - | 69 | 2.8 | 57 | 2.3 | 1.2 | 12 | 0.5 | 50 | 2.0 | 392 | 15.7 |
| 25 | Tiyorne Coleman | 27 | 14 | 666 | 24.7 | 67-138 | 48.6 | 11-32 | 34.4 | 35-57 | 61.4 | 42 | 103 | 145 | 5.4 | 51 | - | 28 | 1.0 | 35 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 13 | 0.5 | 21 | 0.8 | 180 | 6.7 |
| 20 | Corey Jones Jr. | 26 | 4 | 378 | 14.5 | 31-96 | 32.3 | 13-49 | 26.5 | 6-11 | 54.5 | 15 | 36 | 51 | 2.0 | 43 | 2 | 8 | 0.3 | 27 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 4 | 0.2 | 19 | 0.7 | 81 | 3.1 |
| 50 | Abdulaziz Sesay | 27 | 20 | 571 | 21.1 | 30-87 | 34.5 | 0-1 | 0.0 | 7-13 | 53.8 | 45 | 120 | 165 | 6.1 | 75 | 5 | 6 | 0.2 | 23 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 6 | 0.2 | 7 | 0.3 | 67 | 2.5 |
| 24 | Timothy Kikola | 24 | 6 | 330 | 13.8 | 11-48 | 22.9 | 2-9 | 22.2 | 2-4 | 50.0 | 7 | 22 | 29 | 1.2 | 15 | - | 7 | 0.3 | 22 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0 | 0.0 | 9 | 0.4 | 26 | 1.1 |
Game 1 - December 13, 2023 - LCCC 59, Owens 69
Game 2 - February 14, 2024 - LCCC 86, Owens 83
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