Vikings Hold On To Defeat Bobcats In Conference Championship

BUFFALO, NY -- On Saturday, February 23rd, behind big performances from Dominic Douglas and Daniel Thompson, the Villa Maria Vikings (24-3) overcame the Bryant & Stratton College - Buffalo Bobcats (16-11) in the Conference Championship by a final score of 107-97.

Coming into Saturday's game, the Villa Maria Vikings were ranked second in the current USCAA Coaches Poll for USCAA Division II men's basketball, while the Bryant & Stratton College - Buffalo Bobcats were ranked fourth in USCAA Division I men's basketball. The two teams were split during the regular season, playing each other twice. The Bryant & Stratton College - Buffalo Bobcats defeated the Villa Maria Vikings in December; Villa Maria defeated the Bobcat's at Burt Flickinger Athletic Center in February. To put it lightly, Saturday's contest was set up for an emotionally-charged rivalry game with the perfect stage: the conference finals held at Villa Athletic Center, the home floor of the Villa Maria Vikings. 

Early on, Villa Maria delivered the first punch. Jonathan Pozo and DeJuan Owens came out firing. Pozo scored on a lay up inside and DeJuan Owens delivered two early three-point bombs. Three minutes into the first half and the Bobcats took a time out. They were down 10-4 to an active Villa Maria team who came ready to play.

Soon, however, the Bobcats would answer the call. 

Nicc Johnson slashed to the basket for two back-to-back lay-ups. The next time down the floor, the Bobcats isolated Johnson to go one on one, where he drove his defender hard to the right, but stepped back to nail a long three-point shot. Johnson would go 2-3 from three-point land and 5-6 from the field to score 17 first-half points. Not far behind him was Damone Brown Jr., who scored 9 points on 3-4 shooting from the field, and Jordan Street, who scored 7 big points in the paint and grabbed 5 rebounds. 

For Villa, after the short burst of energy Pozo and Owens provided, the two went quiet. Owens didn't score again after the first three minutes of the half and Pozo only managed 7 points before the halftime buzzer sounded. In their place, however, were Dominic Douglas and Daniel Thompson. Douglas stepped just above the free-throw line to knock down a number of mid-range jumpshots, punishing the Bobcat's zone defense. He would finish the first half with 9 points. Thompson, a crafty ball-handler, mixed up his approach. Dribbling between multiple defenders, he found himself slicing through the Bobcat zone defense to score inside, but also moving about the perimeter to spot up for long three-point shots, of which he hit 2-3. Thompson finished the half as Villa Maria's leading scorer with 13 points and 3 assists. 

Caught in the emotion of the moment, reacting to the trash-talk, and frustrated with some of the calls being made on the floor, players from both teams began to contest verbally. This led to a couple of warnings for delay of game and technical fouls. 

With two very different and very strong runs by both teams, the score was 48-47, the Bobcats trailing the Vikings at the half. 

For Villa Maria, going into the second half, the objective seemed pretty obvious. Don't let Nicc Johnson beat you in the next twenty minutes of play, and continue to contain Tyrell Mitchell, who, up to that point, had a slow first half with 3 points, 3 assists, and 1 steal.

For the Bobcats, there was a different agenda, if they were to walk out of Villa Athletic Center conference champions. First, they would have to handle the pressure of playing in a high-stakes game, avoiding technical fouls, delay of game calls, and the propensity to let the emotional gravity affect their disposition and attitude on the floor. Also, they would need to recover well on transition defense and guard the shooters who were making them pay from the outside. Lastly, if they were to remain in the zone defense, someone would have to step up to guard Dominic Douglas, who was catching and shooting the mid-range jump shot at fifteen feet from the basket and scoring, and get a hand in the face of Daniel Thompson, who knocked down a couple of threepointers and was a primary source of offense for the Viking's in the first half. 

Once the second half got under way, the Bobcats were ready to strike. Nicc Johnson scored on a couple of drives to the basket. Tyrell Mitchell established himself, taking the ball strong to the rim. Damone Brown Jr. also provided some offensive fire power: a lay up and then a short jump shot. In the first four minutes of the second half, Bryant & Stratton College - Buffalo had opened up a 60-54 lead. 

But Villa Maria wasn't backing down on their home floor. It was Dominic Douglas with another jump shot and Daniel Thompson with a couple of free throws. The next time down the floor, Douglas would score again, this time, with the hoop and the harm. The game would go back and forth for a while until it was tied at 66 with 12 minutes left.

Notably, Douglas went 5-6 from the field and 5-5 from the free-throw line and scored 15 points in the second half. Thompson had 11 points, 2 steals, and 3 assists in the second twenty minutes of play. During this stretch of the game, both were instrumental in putting their team over the hump, but it would be a total team effort and some of the more unlikely of heroes that ultimately separated the Vikings from the Bobcats. 

At the ten minute mark, Taijay Williams would come into the game and knock down 1 of his 3 three-point shots to keep the game close at 77-74. Williams finished with 17 points and 2 assists, on one his best performances of the year. After William's shot, however, the Bobcats made some costly turnovers and went cold for a couple of offensive possessions.

Add the following onto two defensive lapses that led to Viking opportunities, and a very close game began to loosen up.

For Villa Maria, Gerald Bibbs would get things started, hitting a short jumper, and the next time down, hitting a clutch three-point bomb. Bibbs contributed 16 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 assists to the Viking's cause. During this time, Lonnie Taylor also came up big with a strong rebound and put back. Taylor finished with 11 points and 5 rebounds on the night. 

It would be this run that not only overtook the Bobcat's small lead after halftime, but would extend the Viking's lead indefinitely. 

Tyrell Mitchell, while having a much better second half, scoring 15 points on 5-7 shooting from the field, would ultimately finish with his average on the year, 18 points. Nicc Johnson, who put on a show of one-on-one offense in the first half, had a normal second twenty minutes, adding 10 points of his game-high 27 points. Taijay Williams as noted earlier contributed 17 points and Damone Brown Jr. helped out with 13 points, 3 assists, and 6 rebounds. However, what propelled Villa Maria forward were two extraordinary performances by Thompson and Douglas, who both finished with 24 points, and the cohort of Viking's reserves, who outscored the Bobcat bench 46-29. As the buzzer sounded, Villa Maria had extended the lead to 10 points and the final score read 107-97. 

NEXT GAME

With a 16-11 record and ranked fourth in the last USCAA coaches poll, the Bryant & Stratton College - Buffalo Bobcats still have a chance at playing in the post-season USCAA National Tournament in Uniontown, PA. The United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) will be announcing tournament bids for the 2019 Men’s and Women’s Basketball National Championships through official bid videos on February 26th for Men's Division I contenders at 12:00pm EST. All videos will be uploaded in the headlines at www.theuscaa.com, basketball.theuscaa.com, and the USCAA Network YouTube Channel. 

The USCAA encourages teams to watch the 2019 National Basketball Championship bid selection videos together and record their reactions as the bids are announced. Teams can post links to these reaction videos in the USCAA Network comments section on YouTube. Also, teams and players can share feedback using social media with the Hashtag #USCAABball19 and interact with USCAA on Twitter using @USCAA.

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