WARNER, Oklahoma – The Northern Oklahoma College Mavericks swept Connors in Region 2 basketball Saturday in Warner.
NOC’s women won 61-59 while the #11 NOC men won 79-71.
The Lady Mavs (6-12) improved to 6-8 in league play. Connors (8-11) is 4-10 in league play.
The 11th ranked Mavs (18-1) are 13-1 in league play. The Mavs hold a two-game lead over NOC Enid and Murray State with two games left. The Jets and Aggies play Monday night in Enid. Connors (13-6) is 8-6 in league play.
Lady Mavs 61, Connors 59
Lady Mav sophomore Radina Zhivachka’s 3-pointer with :06.8 remaining gave NOC Tonkawa a 61-59 win over Connors in Warner Saturday afternoon.
Zhivachka had 18 to lead NOC while Chloe Brinlee had 13, Mia Brown 11, and Delaney Reimer 10.
“We were able to make up a 10-point half time deficit with some pressure defense and better help on their post players,” said coach Greg Krause. “After Radina hit a 3-pointer with 6.8 seconds left, Connors got one shot at the end and we secured the rebound. It was a good conference win.”
The Lady Mavs were down 34-24 at half but rallied with a strong defensive effort in the third quarter outscoring Connors 20-10.
The team traded leads until Zhivachka hit the game winner in the closing seconds.
Gavriel Myers had eight rebounds while Moore and Reimer had seven each. Myers added five assists.
Mavs 79, Connors 71
Avante Lederer led the Mavs with 23 points while JD Ray added 20 and Tyrel Morgan 14.
Morgan led the Mavs with six rebounds while Ray and Mark Berry had four assists. Nate Goodlow added five steals.
The Mavs broke out to a 39-28 halftime lead and held on in the second half.
“I thought we did some really good things against Connors yesterday,” said head coach Donnie Jackson. “We moved the ball well and we hit timely shots when we needed to. I was also proud of Avante (Lederer). He stepped up for us. We had some guys in foul trouble and he made some big plays.”
“While this win secured us the one-seed for the Region 2 tournament, there is still work to do,” he added.
Lady Mavs 61, Connors 59
1 2 3 4–Total
Lady Mavs 13 11 20 17– 61
Connors 16 18 10 15– 59
Lady Mavs — R. Zhivachka 18, C. Brinlee 13, M. Brown 11, D. Reimer 10, T. Cogdell 5, C. Moore 3, L. Coates 1.
Mavs 79, Connors 71
1 2–Total
Mavs 39 40– 79
Connors 28 43—71
Mavs–A. Lederer 23, J. Ray 20, T. Morgan 14, N. Goodlow 7, K. Sesberry 6, M. Berry 5, M. Crawford 2, S. Grisby 2, D. McLean 2.
Northern Oklahoma College, the state’s first public community college, is a multi-campus, land-grant institution that provides high quality, accessible, and affordable educational opportunities and services which create life-changing experiences and develop students as effective learners and leaders within their communities in a connected, ever changing world.
NOC, a public two-year community college, serves nearly 5,000 students on the home campus in Tonkawa, branch in Enid, NOC/OSU Gateway Program in Stillwater, online, and the University Center in Ponca City. Of these students about 60% receive financial aid and/or scholarships. Over 80% of NOC students complete their degree with zero debt.
NOC is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and offers associate degrees in three general areas: Arts, Science and Applied Science. The associate degree fulfills lower-division course work which is applicable towards a bachelor’s degree.
Call (580) 628-6200 for more information about Northern Oklahoma College or visit www.noc.edu .
