CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The seventh ranked Parkland men's basketball team led wire-to-wire and defeated Danville Area CC, 66-53, in its M-WAC opener on Saturday at Donald Doddds Athletic Center. Guard
Yaakema Rose Jr. led Parkland with 19 points, while freshman
Joey Saracco added in 10 points and 12 rebounds for his second double-double of the year. With the win, Parkland improves to 16-2 on the season, while Danville Area drops to 10-8.
Grabbing more than 20 offensive rebounds for the third time this season, and second time in the last three games, Parkland beat Danville Area up on the glass in route to the victory. Led by Saracco tying his career high with 12 rebounds, Parkland out-rebounded the Jaguars 44-31 overall and 21-7 on the offensive glass. Joining Saracco on the glass was Rose Jr. with six offensive boards and
Charles Campbell Jr. and
Mark Emmanuel Jr. with five total rebounds each. Overall, Parkland rebounded nearly 50 percent (21 of 41) of its missed shots.
The second double-double in his last three games, Saracco grabbed five of his 12 rebounds on the offensive end. With another big performance on Saturday, the Bolingbrook, Ill., native is averaging 10 rebounds over his last three games and is averaging 13 points per game in that span. The three-game streak started on January 17 with 23 points, 12 rebounds and eight blocks at Malcolm X.
Sparked by a 7-0 run out of the gate – highlighted by an alley-oop from
Ty'Ohn Trimble to Charles Campbell Jr – the Cobras scored 14 of the game's first 17 points. The Corbas then pushed the lead out to 11 with 10 straight points from Rose Jr., including a pair of threes.
Despite a four-minute scoring drought, that followed the run, the Cobras maintained an eight-point for much of the remainder of the half.
Carter Jeffries brought Parkland out of the shooting funk with three straight buckets and then
Bruno Williams Jr. took advantage of a string of Jaguar fouls to push the lead back into double digits at the foul line. Although Danville cut it back into single digits late in the half, a pair of layups in the closing minute by Rose Jr. sent Parkland into the locker room with a 35-23 lead.
Forwards Williams Jr. and Saracco kept Danville are arms' length in the early-goings of the second half with both bigs posting four points in the first five minutes. The lead would remain in the 10-point range for following six-plus minutes until Parkland went on an 11-4 run over five minutes to push the lead out to its largest of the game, 60-43, capped by four straight made free throws. Danville would cut the lead back to 10 with 2:35 left, but couldn't draw any closer.
After Danville Area shot 38.9 percent from the field in the first half, Parkland held the Jaguars to just 26.9 percent shooting in the second half and 12.5 percent from three.
As part of Hall of Fame Day at Parkland, seven new members were inducted into the Parkland Athletics Hall of Fame during halftime today's game. Among the seven new inductees was men's basketball alum Lennox Forrester ('89). A part of the first Parkland men's basketball team to reach back-to-back NJCAA Tournament appearances, Forrester and the Cobras placed National Runner-Up in 1988 and then fourth in 1989. Forrester went on to play two years at the University of Evansville where he helped the program reach the NCAA Tournament during his senior year.
Up next, the Cobras will continue its three-game, conference homestand on Wednesday, January 30, at 7:30 p.m. against Lincoln Land. The three straight home games conclude a week from today, February 2, against John Wood at 3 p.m.
