Thunderducks Knock off No. 1 Seed, Move on to National Semifinals

HERKIMER, N.Y. – Dallas College Richland knocked off the top seed at the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III Tournament at Herkimer College when the ninth-seeded Thunderducks beat Dutchess Community College 67-60 Thursday afternoon.

Richland (22-11) advances to Friday's 4 p.m. CT semifinals after handing Dutchess their second loss of the season. The Thunderducks will play host Herkimer (25-4) for a chance to advance to the national championship game Saturday.

It is Richland's first trip to the semifinals since 2019 when the Thunderducks fell to Herkimer, and finished third. 

Trey Wright scored 16 points, grabbed 10 boards, and had six assists and five steals. He was 10 of 12 from the free throw line. Elijah Brown had 13 points on 5 of 8 shooting. Barack Holland finished with 12 points, five boards and seven steals. Mannie Odo had 10 points and five rebounds.

Richland's bench outscored the Falcons' 37-19. Wright and Brown combined for 78 percent of the Thunderducks' bench production.

Nouhoun Diarra had 16 points, and Quincey Platt added 11 for the Falcons (26-2).

Dutchess led by as many as 10 with 12:09 to play in the first half before Richland pulled even at 21 on a pair of Holland free throws to cap a 14-4 run. The Thunderducks, which sank 23 of 28 free throws, took a 33-27 lead into halftime.

The Thunderducks shot 37.5 percent in the first half, going 12 for 32. The Falcons hit 40 percent of their field goals, making 10 of 25.

Seiray Sinerna's 3-pointer with 11:14 to go pulled Dutchess within two before Richland used a 9-0 run, touched off by Brown's 3 a little less than three minutes later to bump the lead back to 11. Dutchess cut it to four a couple times late, but Richland held off the Falcons to advance.

The Thunderducks settled for 7-of-29 shooting in the second half, taking advantage of 17 of 22 free throws to hold off the Falcons, who knocked down 48 percent of their field goals after the break, but attempted only three from the stripe.

Wright matched his season high.

Richland outrebounded Dutchess 45-30.