Men's Basketball Rolls Denmark Technical in Sunday's Win

By Bryant Marks

DENMARK, SC -- Sunday's matchup of the Richard Bland men's basketball team and Denmark Technical College saw the Statesmen put on a show for the away fans as they roll through their opponents, 77-63.

Back again to playing .500 basketball, the team sits at 13-13 for the season with only two games left before postseason play begins.  With Sunday's win, the Statesmen more than likely will lock in the #5 seed in the Region X Division I Conference Tournament, barring a collapse of Brunswick Community College who they will face off against as the #4 seed in the first round of the tournament.  The remaining two games prove to be big for RBC as the team ramps up its efforts into going into the postseason hot.  The first of the two away games will be played in South Carolina against Spartanburg Methodist on Thursday, February 27, before the team then drives up to Caldwell Community College for their last game of the season on Friday, February 28.

This matchup against Denmark Technical was the second meeting of the two teams on the season, with the Statesmen winning the first at their home floor.  The beginning of the game was a back and forth battle as neither team could gain a decisive edge over the other, as they both flew up and down the court.  Closing out the half, RBC put together multiple key stops against Denmark and converted those stops into buckets on the other end to put a gap between them and Denmark going into halftime.  In the second the Statesmen came out focused and determined.  They ramped up the pressure on the defensive end and stepped up their offensive game to prevent Denmark from ever getting back into the contest.  It was complete domination within the paint today for Richard Bland as Denmark had no answer for Kenneth Southerland or Terry Gray Jr. whenever they got the ball in close. Southerland had himself an in-game dunk contest in Sunday's game with spectacular dunk after spectacular dunk, including a monster windmill jam to cap off his first-half performance.  That combined with his other teammates' stellar play on Sunday gave RBC the 77-63 win over Denmark Technical.

The big performers from the win on Sunday were Southerland with 28 points, Gray Jr. with 18, and Corbin Slayton with 10.