The Carl Sandburg College men’s basketball team rallied from a halftime deficit in impressive fashion, beating the Monmouth College JV 79-59 on Monday night at John M. Lewis Gymnasium. The Chargers, among others receiving votes for the fourth straight week in Monday’s new NJCAA Division II rankings, outscored the Fighting Scots 49-25 in the second half to win their third in a row and move to 9-1 on the season. Monmouth opened the second-half scoring with a free throw to go up 35-30 before the Chargers scored 23 of the next 25 in an 8-minute span, putting Sandburg ahead for good 53-37 midway through the half. James Jones keyed the go-ahead run for the Chargers, using a pair of steals to get to the foul line for the first four points. He finished with a team-high 14 points, went 8 of 9 at the stripe, had five rebounds and collected a game-best six steals. Former Macomb Bomber, Carter Fayhee scored 12 and had a team-leading eight rebounds along with two assists and two steals. Former Ridgewood Spartan, Briar Greenman led the Monmouth JV with 16 points. Former Mercer County Golden Eagle, Jordan Metcalf had 7 points and 11 rebounds and Carl Sandburg and Abingdon-Avon High School alum, Tyler Dugan had 3 points. Sandburg has added a game at 7:30 p.m. game tonight against Eureka’s JV in Eureka.
Earlier in the day, the CSC men’s basketball team received votes for the fourth consecutive week in the latest NJCAA Division II rankings, released Monday afternoon. Despite winning both of their games last week in blowout fashion, the Chargers (8-1) garnered four points in the new poll, down from seven points the week before. Sandburg was one of 11 teams outside the top 20 that received votes. The Chargers defeated Illinois College JV 86-62 on Tuesday, then beat Rock Valley — last season’s Division III runner-up — 79-58 on Saturday at home. Sandburg’s only loss this season came Nov. 23 at Milwaukee Area Tech, which is ranked No. 4 for the second week in a row. The Chargers boast one of the stingiest defenses in the country, ranking fourth in scoring average at 61.2 points per game. On the offensive end, they rank fourth nationally in 3-point shooting (42.0 percent) and free-throw shooting (74.6 percent). Sophomore guard Scott Gowan (Rockford, Ill./Rockford East) has connected on 62.2 percent of his 3s (23 of 37), good for fifth in the country, and freshman guard Brock Bower-Preece (Mason City, Ill./Illini Bluffs) leads all Division II players with a 16-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
