INA, Ill. – The Parkland College men's basketball team pulled away late in a 73-47 win over Danville Area Community College in the Region 24 Semifinals on Saturday, March 9th. The top-seeded Cobras (27-4) traded the lead with the No. 4 seed Jaguars (18-12) in a tight first half, but the Parkland defense stifled DACC in the second half to finish out the win. Offensively, sophomore Jabryn Anderson led all scorers with 22 points to advance to the NJCAA DII Central District Championship Game for the third straight season.

"Extremely happy our guys carried over our play from the first round game," second-year head coach John Bowler said after the win. "Our defense and pace has led the way the last two games. We need to keep our mentality and focus on that end of the court tomorrow."
 
The Cobras opened the scoring right away but trailed 7-2 early in the game after a slow start. Sophomore Ken Sallee tied the game 13-13 with a three-pointer midway through the first half, and redshirt freshman Drew Lewis Jr. buried a triple to put Parkland up 16-13 with 9:00 left in the half. DACC battled back to tie the game, and the Jaguars trailed just 26-24 after hitting a three with 3:40 until halftime, but the Cobras put together a quick 9-0 run to regain control, and Parkland led 35-28 at the end of the first half. A fast-paced start to the second half saw the Cobras holding on to a 45-38 lead with 13:11 on the clock, but the Jaguars closed in, cutting it to 47-42 with 11 minutes to play. Parkland countered with a five-minute, 14-0 run to go up 61-42 with 6:02 remaining, and the Cobra defense allowed just five points in the final 11 minutes to close out the 73-47 win.
 
Scoring Summary:
Jabryn Anderson: 22 points
Brylan Phillips: 11 points
Isaac Mapson III: 10 points
Drew Lewis Jr. 10 points
 
Up next, Parkland faces No. 3 seed John Wood Community College in the NJCAA DII Central District Championship game tomorrow, March 10th. Tip-off against the Blazers (19-12) is set for 2:00 p.m. at Rend Lake College.