Region X Tournament Run Ends for Basketball

By Bryant Marks

PINEHURST, NC -- Looking to make a deeper run into the postseason, Richard Bland College men's basketball took out all the stops against USC Salkehatchie on Friday but were barely outdone in the final minutes of the game, losing 74-68.

Finishing with a record of 15-15, this team accomplished more than what was expected at the beginning of the year.  Pulling off big upsets, putting on a show for their fans, and competing every single time out on the court were just some of the ways the season could be described for the Statesmen in Coach Andrew Lacey's first season at the helm.  Not many people expected them to finish how they did, but RBC Basketball has been proving the doubters wrong all season.  Congratulations to the team on this hard-fought season where everything was earned and not given.  

In the semifinals of the Region X Conference Tournament, #5 Richard Bland faced off against #1 and #13 nationally USC Salkehatchie, coming off a bye while the Statesmen won a hard-fought game the previous night.  It has long been said that beating a team three times in a single season is a hard feat to accomplish and Richard Bland proved that to be true on Friday.  As the game was underway, the slower, half-court pace was just what RBC needed to control the half.  Not allowing Salkehatchie to get out on the break really benefitted the Statesmen as the two teams still traded blows in the half-court sets.  RBC's gameplan on defense can be credited with its success in the first as they held the 2019-20 Region X Player of the Year, Vince Cole, to just 5 points in the half and just 11 for the game.  Cole averages almost 22 a game.  The Statesmen were focused and locked in on that end of the court and that is what gave them the advantage on the hardwood in the first half.  They went into halftime confident and leading USC, 35-34.  

Starting the second half, Richard Bland continued what had been working previously.  Kenneth Southerland dominated the inside on offense as he finished at the rim time and time again.  While Salkehatchie threw a full-court press that had caught RBC by surprise their last game together, the Statesmen were well-prepared for that this game.  They moved the ball through the press effortlessly and forced the Indians to come out of their patented press.  This was now two games in a row that a press had been proven ineffective against Richard Bland.  Late in the contest, the score was 70-65 in favor of Salkehatchie until Corbin Slayton hit a big three to bring the Statesmen within two points of the lead.  In the end, the size and length of the opponents proved to be too much as they gobbled up all the rebounds on both ends of the court, scoring off those second chances.  Despite the Statesmen playing their absolute best basketball of the season, the heavily-favored and #1 seeded USC Salkehatchie took away the victory with a final score of 74-68.

Big performances came today from all the players on Richard Bland but the best of those performances were from Kenneth Southerland, Derrick Redmon, and Corbin Slayton.  Southerland finished the game with 23 points and pulled down 8 rebounds.  Redmon and Slayton both dropped in 14 points and dished out 4 assists each.