(Sugar Grove, IL.) – Waubonsee Community College and Benedictine University's Junior Varsity engaged in an up-tempo shootout on Wednesday evening in Erickson Hall Gymnasium. The Chiefs (9-2) men's basketball team had too much firepower for the Eagles (0-2) as Waubonsee ran away with a 124-87 victory. Coach Lance Robinson's crew put up 68 points in the first half, nailed 17 three-point baskets in the game and compiled 30 assists as team.
Kamea Chandler nailed a three-pointer from the left corner just seconds after the Chief won the opening tipoff to get things going. CJ Savage followed with a three of his own moments later as Waubonsee jumped out to an 8-2 lead. The undersized Eagles, who rely heavily on three-point shots, stayed within striking distance by converting a few from beyond the arc early on. However, Chandler answered them with a trio of long-range baskets as Waubonsee held a 22-13 lead after seven minutes of play. The Chiefs continued to fire away from deep, beating the Eagles at their own game by connecting on six treys on the way to taking a 30-13 lead. Dirk Nickson then took over for Waubonsee scoring eight quick points to stake the Chiefs to a 35-16 lead midway through the first half. The Eagles' sharp shooters found the range on several occasions, but defensively Benedictine could not stop Waubonsee. The Chiefs' trio of 6'7" big men Chikasi Ofoma, Freddy Hassan and Chris Rhoades scored nearly every time they got the ball in the paint. The threesome combined for 26 points, 15 rebounds and three blocked shots in the first half. Ofoma closed out the half with a spinning, left-handed lay-in just before the buzzer to give the home team a 68-39 lead at the break. The 68 points is the third most points scored in a half in program history. Waubonsee shot 54 percent from the field, including making 11 three-pointers, while the Eagles made nine triples in the half.
Over the initial five minutes of the second half the teams traded baskets with the Chiefs maintaining at least a 25-point advantage. The Eagles began to find their shooting touch again and trimmed the deficit to 21 points. But JJ Strojinc buried a long trey from well beyond the top of the key and Brayden Long also connected from downtown to make it 88-62 eight minutes into the second period. Waubonsee eclipsed the century mark with eight minutes to go when Chandler drilled a long three-pointer, his sixth of the game, to push the score to 102-71. The lead reached 35 points when Long tipped in his own follow up a couple minutes later. An offensive rebound and put back basket by Tarell Harding and a three-point play by Dasean Patton extended the lead to 122-87 with just over a minute remaining. Eddy Redento finished things off with an acrobatic lay-up in the final minute. For the game Waubonsee owned a 60-26 advantage in points in the paint and 31-14 in fast break points.
Every Chiefs player grabbed at least one rebound and also dented the scoring column with Chandler leading the way with 22 points. Hassan finished with 20 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots. Nickson booked 16 points and handed out four assists, Savage added 12 points and four assists, Ofoma tallied a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards, and Long contributed 11 points and dished out five assists. James Parker chipped in with six assists and four steals, Patton added nine points and Strojinc booked eight points. Makai Mandley paced the Eagles, who made 14 shots from long range, with 24 points.
The Chiefs are on the road next week traveling to Moline to take on Black Hawk College on Tuesday, December 16 and heading to Palatine to battle Harper College on Thursday, December 18. Waubonsee returns home to square off against 13th ranked South Suburban College in a rare Monday afternoon contest on December 22 for their final game of 2025. The Chiefs and Bulldogs are set to tipoff at 3:00 p.m. with the women's contest to follow at 5:00 p.m.