EAST PEORIA, Ill. – Jaden Coleman provided the game-winning tip-win with 5.5 seconds left, and
Charles Campbell Jr. took a charge as time expired, as No. 6 Parkland men's basketball advanced to the NJCAA Region 24 Championship game with a 60-59 victory over Illinois Central on Saturday. Sophomore guard
Yaakema Rose Jr. led the team with 22 points, while sophomore
Ty'Ohn Trimble and
Charles Campbell Jr. each tallied 11 points.
Awaiting the Cobras in Sunday's 2 p.m. title game will be No. 3 seed John Wood after the two M-WAC foes split the season series with the home team winning both games. Held inside the ICC Cougarplex, the game can also be streamed live on Illinois Central's YouTube channel. The winner of Sunday's game advances to the NJCAA DII National Tournament in Danville, Ill., March 19-23.
Trailing 59-58 out of a timeout with 16.5 seconds left, the Cobras got Rose Jr. driving to the basket off a ball screen with the clock ticking under 10 seconds. The guard's runner over three defenders caromed off the front of the rim, but
Jaden Coleman soared in to tip it back in among a pair of Cougar rebounders with 5.5 seconds remaining.
Following an Illinois Central timeout, the Cougars got their point guard driving down the right wing and towards the paint when
Charles Campbell Jr. stepped in to take the charge as the Cougar put the potential winning shot up.
A first half of runs, Parkland came out firing first with 13 unanswered points to begin the game.
Yaakema Rose Jr. led-off the run with two layups and then a second-chance put back for a 6-0 lead out of the gate. After a Bruno Williams free throw, freshman guard
Tommy Makabu came off the bench to hit back-to-back triples on consecutive possessions, forcing an Illinois Central timeout with a 13-0 Cobra lead. Out of the timeout, the Cougars started an extended run of their own, charging ahead behind 20 unanswered points of their own. Now behind by seven points, Parkland finished the half on a 16-4 spurt that was paced by four triples, capped off by a 30-foot buzzer beater from Rose Jr. to give him 14 first-half points.
Coming out of the locker room, the Cobras pushed the lead to as much as nine, 35-26, early in the second half before Illinois Central again went on an extended run. After the Cougars scored 20 of the next 25 points, taking a 48-41 lead, with fewer than 10 minutes to go, Parkland responded with a three from Rose Jr. and four free throws from Williams Jr., the second pair of free throws coming off of a Cougar technical foul. The Cobras retook the lead, 51-50, on a long three from
Ty'Ohn Trimble, only to have ICC go on a 7-0 run to regain control. A pair of Campbell Jr. buckets combined with Parkland defensive stops, brought the Cobras back within two points and then, after a Cougar basket, a Trimble corner three cut the deficit to just one point, 59-58. Possessing the ball with fewer than 30 seconds left, the Cobras got two shots up before calling the timeout that up Coleman's game-winning tip-in.
With the comeback win, the sixth-ranked Cobras advance to their third Region 24 Championship game in the last four seasons under head coach
Anthony Figueroa. The Cobras won the regional title game in 2016 and 2017, advancing them to the NJCAA DII National Tournament.
