The Independence Pirates traveled to Great Bend, KS to participate in the Barton County Booster Club Classic this past weekend. The Pirates faced Northern Oklahoma College-Enid on the first night in what turned out to be a fantastic contest.
ICC fell into a big hole as Enid buried two 3 point baskets and added a layup to start the game off 8-0. ICC answered with a quick 4-0 run to cut the lead in half 4-8. The Pirates would finally even things up after a made free-throw by Ephraim Kelley to make the score 12-12.
The scoring would go back and forth for the rest of the half, but ICC had the last laugh with a three point basket with thirteen seconds left by Daniel Rowe to take a 31-28 advantage into halftime.
Mekan Moss opened things up in fine fashion for the Pirates with a lay-up to put the Pirates up 33-28. The game went back and forth over the next few possessions with the Pirates not being able to shake the Jets. After a Wayne Runnels lay-up for the Jets, NOCE found themselves up 49-48. Antonio Hanson quickly answered with a three point basket to put the Pirates back up 51-49.
ICC kept things close and held onto a slim one point lead 56-55 with 8:19 left to go in the game. Enid would not go away and answered with a 9-1 run to give the Jets a 66-57 advantage with 3:32 left to go in the game.
This is when freshman guard Daniel Rowe started to heat up. After a series of steals by the Pirates, Rowe scored 14 consecutive points for the Pirates, including a shot with 0:16 seconds left to go in the game to tie the score 71-71. A missed jumper by Andre Vaughn and a defensive rebound by Mekan Moss put the game into overtime.
In the Overtime period, it was all ICC. After a couple of back and forth scores, ICC went on to build a five point advantage 80-75 and did not look back. ICC held on to win the ball game 86-79.
ICC was led in scoring by Daniel Rowe with a blistering 26 points (career-high) including 10-15 from the field. Rowe also connected on 3 trey balls from downtown. TJ Stukes added 16 points and a menacing 13 rebounds. Antonio Hanson added 15 points, 4 assists, and 6 steals in a fine overall performance.
In the second contest, ICC faced the Sterling College JV. ICC jumped out to a 23-1 lead and never looked back. ICC went on to take claim a 110-47 victory over the Warriors.
Antonio Hanson connected for 25 points, including 4 three balls. He also added 6 assists, 5 rebounds, and 4 steals in the effort. Five other Pirates scored double figures with Michael Craion adding 14, TJ Stukes 13, Mekan Moss and Daniel Rowe with 12, and Donald Rowe with 10. TJ Stukes led the Pirates with 13 rebounds and Chris Heard added 6 assists. Donald Rowe paced the Pirates with 5 steals.
ICC will be back in action on Nov. 23-24 as they travel to Garden City, KS for the Garden City Thanksgiving Classic. The Pirates will face Frank Phillips (TX) at 4 pm on the opening night.