After a slow start offensively, the FMCC Men's Basketball team fought back for a 75-62 victory over Clinton Community College in the Region 3 Semi-Finals. The Raiders have advanced to the Region 3 Championship for the second straight season. They head into the title game with a 25-3 record and a 17-game winning streak.
Clinton came out of the gates on a 17-2 run. The Raiders could not get much going offensively, and with 7 minutes remaining in the half, they trailed 25-9. Over the final five minutes in the half, FMCC finally started to see a few shots drop and closed out the half only trailing 33-27.
In the second half, Ej Gallup's squad came out strong with a 10-2 run and finally took the lead 37-33, with 17 minutes remaining. Clinton had an answer as they went on a 13-0 run of their own to regain the lead, 50-43.
Donovan Rodriguez and Nahjhime Kirton jumpstarted the offense again and FM led once again, 52-50. Kennyh Hardeman hit a corner fade away jumper with five minutes to play and the Raiders led for good, 60-50. Schumel Shepherd led a balanced attack to finish the game on top, 75-62.
Rodriguez led with 20 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals. Shepherd and Hardeman each had 16 and Hardeman included 12 rebounds. Kirton rounded out double-figure scoring with 14.
The Raiders will now take on familiar conference foe, Herkimer in the Region 3 Title Game. The contest is slated for Sunday, March 3rd at 1:00 p.m. at Herkimer College.
