OLNEY - The Blue Knights had (4) four players in double digits Saturday afternoon as they beat SWIC 77-69. Olney Central moves to 11-0 overall and 4-0 in GRAC play.
The Blue Knights were paced in scoring by 5'10 sophomore point guard Jalen Moore (20), 6'5 freshman forward JJ Kalakon (14), 6'4 sophomore forward Nick Walker (14), and 6'5 freshman forward Cobie Montomgery (10). Rounding out the scoring for the Blue Knights was 6'4 sophomore guard JT Wheeler (6), 7'1 redshirt-sophomore center Jason Cudd (4), 6'8 freshman forward Elijah Farr (4), 6'1 freshman point guard Cayman Hayes (3), and 6'3 freshman guard CE Talton (2).
The first five & a half minutes saw (3) three lead changes and (4) four SWIC turnovers which forced head coach Jay Harrington to call a timeout. The Blue Knights held an 11-8 advantage after back-to-back baskets from Farr.
After the timeout Farr picked up his second personal foul of the half and had to take a seat.
SWIC took advantage as 6'6 freshman forward Braeden Beard scored on a put back and 6'5 sophomore guard Charles Jones connected on a three-pointer.
Moore then scored on a drive to the rim, connected on two free throws, and scored on a nifty spin move through traffic to put the Blue Knights up 20-15.
The last OCC basket to end the first half came on a baseline drive by Walker on a pass from Moore that led to a three-point play. The Blue Knights took a 37-32 into halftime.
The second half was back and forth the whole way. The Blue Knights connected on 15-20 free throws in the second half to help seal the victory. Walker was (6-6), Kalakon (3-4), Moore (5-8), & Cudd (2-2). The Blue Knights shot 24-31 overall at the line for 77%.
SWIC shot 12-17 overall from the line for 71%.
Overall the Blue Knights shot 23-50 from the field for 46% and connected on 7-17 three-pointers for 41%.
Kalakon led the way on the glass as he grabbed (9) rebounds, Walker (6), Montgomery (6), Farr (4), Cudd (3), Moore (3), Wheeler (2), Dalton (1), and Tchuente (1).
The Blue Knights assisted on 13 of the 25 made field goals. Moore had (5) assists, Talton (4), Kalakon (2), Farr (1), and Wheeler (1).
Cudd & Montgomery had (2) blocks a piece, while Walker, Kalakon, Talton, Tchuente, C. Hayes each had (1).
The Blue Knights have a pair of games this last week before Christmas break as they host Kaskaskia Wednesday, and travel to Lewis & Clark Saturday.
Head Coach Mike Burris on the win - "It was a total team effort. We had some guys step up when their number was called. This was our fourth game this week. SWIC does a good job of mixing up their defense and running a lot of different actions on the offensive end. We shot the ball well from the line and made some big ones late. We were able to make more free throws than they attempted."
Next Game - Wednesday, December 11 at 7:30pm vs Kaskaskia.