Itawamba sees more Payne in Ravens second round national win

J.J. Seymore scored 14 points and dished out six assists and Daniel Payne recorded another double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds as the Red Ravens rolled to a 69-47 win over Itawamba, Miss. on Thursday night in the second round of the NJCAA National Basketball Tournament in Hutchinson.

The Red Ravens will play Midland, Texas in a national semi-final game on Friday evening.  Tip off will be at 8 p.m. at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.

Although the Ravens won by a comfortable margin, Coffeyville got off to a rough start against Itawamba.  The Ravens trailed early and Barry Eberhardt and Tarod Sanders both got into early foul trouble and spent most of the first half sitting on the bench next to Head Coach Jay Herkelman.  The Ravens, though, responded in stellar fashion by going on a 20-0 run midway through the first half.  The Ravens would lead 37-21 at halftime.

"It was nice to build a big lead, especially with Tarod and Barry on the bench with foul trouble," said Herkelman after the game.  "A lot of the run we had in the first half came from good defense."

"Coach said when Barry and Tarod got into foul trouble, we needed to pick it up defensively," said Seymore.  "And we did."

Itawamba was able to get the lead down to 12 early in the second half, but the Ravens defense kept a clamp on the Indians offense.  The Ravens held Itawamba to just 24% shooting from the floor, 15-of-63.

Eberhardt did get rolling in the second half, scoring 11 points. 

"He got plenty of rest in the first half," said Herkelman when asked about Eberhardt's strong second half.  "We need him to play more minutes the next two nights."

The Ravens shot 42% from the floor on the game and out-rebounded the Indians 48 to 40.  The Indians did, however, grab 19 offensive rebounds against the Ravens.

"They're a good offensive rebounding team," said Herkelman.  "They got too many rebounds against us.  I was never at ease over on the bench.  Itawamba knows how to win games and I thought they would make a run at us."

The run never came and the Ravens were able to empty the bench the final two minutes of the game.

With two wins in the first two rounds at the national tournament, the Ravens are just two more wins away from a national championship.

"It's a good feeling," said Herkelman.  "But we've got a lot of work left."

Itawamba-Coffeyville Boxscore

Hutchinson News Tournament Site

National Tournament Web Casting Site (Check for the web casting link prior to tip off for Coffeyville's game at nationals)

NJCAA Men's Basketball National Tournament Web Site

National Tournament Fan Bus Information

J.J. Seymore sails in for two of his 14 points on the night.  In addition, Seymore dished out six assists with just one turnover.

Anthony Brock (#5) defends a shot from Daniel Payne in the second half of the Ravens 69-47 win over Itawamba, Miss. on Thursday night.  Payne had another double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds for the Ravens.