KC men knock off No. 5 Trinity Valley to advance to semifinals

JACKSONVILLE, TX -- The third time was the charm.  After losing twice in the regular season to nationally ranked Trinity Valley Community College, the Rangers pulled the upset of the Region XIV Tournament by knocking off the No. 5 Cardinals, 81-73, at John Alexander Gymnasium.

KC advances to the semifinals 6 p.m. Friday, March 9, to face Blinn College.

TVCC (27-4) came into the game as the No. 1 seed in the tournament.  KC (18-12) was ninth seed.

KC advances to the semifinals 6 p.m. Friday, March 9, to face Blinn College.

KC's Darrian Grays tied the game up at 43 points with 12:43 left in the game. After a TVCC turnover Demiere Brown scored for KC to put the Rangers up 45-43 with 12:15 left.

The Cardinals answered with a short shot to tie it back up at 45 points with just over 12 minutes left.

Brown answered with a steal and layup on the other end.  He was fouled and made the free throw to put KC up 49-46.

KC capitalized on two consecutive TVCC offensive fouls with a layup by Brown and a three-pointer by Grays to put KC up 58-54 with 6:40 left.

After TVCC hit two free throws to make the score 58-56, KC went on a 5-0 run with a three-pointer by Grays and two free throws by Chad Bowie.

TVCC missed two free throws and KC answered with a layup by Brown to put KC ahead, 66-58, with 3:55 left.

KC went up by 10 points for the first time with 3 minutes left after Bowie hit two free throws and Davon Newton dunked the ball to put the Rangers ahead, 70-60.

The Cardinals made it interesting at the end by hitting a three-pointer to get within 7 points, 77-70, with 46 seconds left, but it was just too late.