HARRIMAN, Tenn. — Walters State took home a regular season Tennessee Community College Athletic Association championship Saturday evening while Miles Thomas eclipsed a career milestone in a 93-85 win over rival Roane State on the road.
Thomas, the reigning NJCAA National Player of the Week, staked his claim to a possible repeat honor by tossing in 37 points to reach the 1,000-point mark for his WSCC career, while Deontae Davis poured in a career best 29 points in leading the Senators to the victory which sewed up the regular season TCCAA title for Coach Bill Carlyle and company.
The win gave the Senators a 23-7 regular season overall record and a 14-4 TCCAA record, which gave them the title in a tiebreaker over Motlow State regardless of the outcome of the Bucks' game on Saturday. A Motlow loss would give WSCC the outright title.
The loss dropped the Raiders to 11-19 overall and 7-11 in TCCAA action, as they will be either the No. 7 or No. 8 team in the league depending on the results of late games in league play.
After two ties and a pair of lead changes early in the game, Walters State seized control thanks to the play of Davis, who tossed in 20 points in the first half. Thomas added 14 points and Kobe Powell and 10 in the opening 20 minutes, as WSCC took a 55-43 lead at halftime.
The second half belonged to Thomas, who fired in 23 points at intermission, while Davis added nine points. The two combined for 32 of Walters State's 38 points in the final 20 minutes.
The Senators ended the game shooing 54.2 percent (32 of 59) from the field, including a blistering 64.3 percent (9 of 14) from long range while making 20 of 29 free throw attempts. Thomas added eight rebounds, three assists and two steals in the win, while Kajuan Hale dished out 10 assists in the contest.
The Raiders connected on 49.1 percent (28 of 57) of their shots from the field in the contest, making 11 of 33 from deep and 18 of 35 at the stripe. Roane State was also outrebounded 37-23 in the loss.
James Jordan and DeMierre Black both had 22 points to pace the Raiders, while Kendall Cordell and Austin Brooks both added 11 points in the defeat.
Walters State will be the No. 1 seed in the TCCAA/NJCAA Region VII Tournament, which will be contested March 1-5 at Cleveland State Community College.