After and opening round lose to Joliet Junior College 87-71, the Herkimer Generals bounced back to take fourth place in the NJCAA National Tournament with wins over Davidson Community College and Sullivan Community College.
Herkimer (30-3) played well against the eventual NJCAA Champions, but hurt themselves with turnovers which turned into 19 points. Keeping the Generals in the game was their ability to get to the line, outshooting Joliet by six (25-to-19). A 40-24 lead at halftime though put the Generals behind by too much. The closest Herkimer got was within five points with 5 minutes left in regulation.
In the Generals two consolation games, solid performances from All-Tournament Team member Akeem Ellis, Jerome Floyd, Reggie German and Cliff Brown helped the Generals beat Davidson Community College 91-87 and Sullivan Community College 83-76.
In Friday’s game against the Davidson Storm, the Generals weathered through a three-point mirage coming from the Storm’s Justin Glover, and came out of the first half with a 13-point lead (47-37).
Davidson played better in the second half, dropping the General lead to six points with just under a minute left in the game, but Herkimer sealed it at the line, led by Ellis’ 19 points, 12 rebounds and six assists.
In Saturday’s game against Sullivan Community College, Ellis wasn’t the only General to dominate against the Generals. Teammate Cliff Brown scored a season-high 29 points, combining with Ellis for 58 of Herkimer’s 83 points.
Ellis and Brown, the only Generals to score in double figures led their team to a 4th place finish in the NJCAA Tournament, the best the team has finished since 1991 when they were National Champions with a 29-5 record.
The Generals also won the second most games in school history, coming two wins away (32-4) from the top spot.
In Head Coach Matt Lee’s sixth season, he has won more games and gone further in the Section III Tournament then any coach has since Jack Alofs, who stopped coaching in 1991. Lee has improved each of his team’s since coming to Herkimer, winning at least one more game each season since he started coaching in 2003 (10 wins in 2004, 14 in 2005, 23 in 2006, 24 in 2007, 25 in 2008 and 30 in 2009). Next year will be tough to reciprocate with the team losing nine players from this year’s team, but if anyone than can do it, Lee can.
Score:
Joliet Community College 87
Herkimer County Community College 71
Halftime Score:
40-24 Joliet
Scoring:
HCCC Akeem Ellis 33, Matt Baldwin 8, Jerome Floyd 5, Cliff Brown 5, Reggie German 8, Darien Thomas 6, Ian Austin-Michaud 6
Totals: 22-18-71
Score:
Herkimer County Community College 91
Davidson Community College 87
Halftime Score:
47-34 Herkimer
Scoring:
HCCC Akeem Ellis 19, Matt Baldwin 6, Darien Thomas 8, Jerome Floyd 15, Cliff Brown 16, Reggie German 14, Darien Thomas 6, Ian Austin-Michaud 7
Totals: 35-14-91
Score:
Herkimer County Community College 83
Sullivan Community College 76
Halftime Score:
39-35 Herkimer
Scoring:
HCCC Akeem Ellis 29, Matt Baldwin 2, Steven Thompson 4, Jerome Floyd 5, Cliff Brown 29, Reggie German 2, Darien Thomas 5, Ian Austin-Michaud 7
Totals: 33-12-83
