By SUSAN DENK

sdenk@thehawkeye.com

It has been a long, long, long journey for the Southeastern Community College men's basketball team.

And that is not just the six years since the Blackhawks' last appearance in the NJCAA national tournament.

SCC and Williston (N.D.) State College played 40 minutes, then 45 minutes. Then 50. Then 55.

Finally, at the end of nearly an hour on the basketball court, the journey to get to Hutchinson, Kan., was over.

The Blackhawks finally prevailed 121-114 in three overtimes to win the District 11 championship Tuesday at Loren Walker Arena.

It was definitely a game worthy of a national tournament berth.

"That's one of the top two or three games I've been involved with and I've been involved in thousands of games," said SCC coach Terry Carroll, who won two national championships with Indian Hills.

"I knew I didn't want to go home for spring break. I wanted to go to Kansas and play for a national championship," said Mason Leggett, who scored six points in the final overtime.

SCC now faces Northwest Florida State in the tournament's first game. The teams tip off March 16 at 10 a.m.

For both teams, it was a total team effort, one of those games where fans almost feel bad for the other team. Almost. But the Blackhawks' fans certainly appreciated the effort of the Tetons.

"My hat's off to those guys. They fought and they played hard under adverse conditions," said Carroll, referring to the earsplitting SCC crowd, most of which came decked out in red. "This was one of the best college basketball crowds I've been involved with. The referee with 12 seconds to go goes, 'Man, I'm glad we came up for this game. That was really an exciting game.'"

The Blackhawks' national tournament hopes appeared to be in serious jeopardy with under a minute to go in the second overtime.

Williston State led 106-100 with 57.4 seconds to go. Coach Hunter Berg yelled at his team, 'Finish! Finish!' as the teams went back on the floor after a timeout.

It was SCC, though, that finished the period.

Norvell Arnold -- suffering from cramps the entire overtime -- made a pair of free throws to cut the lead to four. Then Leggett's defense resulted in a five-second call on Tarell Clark. Arnold's bucket cut the deficit to two. After Samile Jeffers missed a pair of free throws -- the only two he missed all night -- Jeron Lee made his own foul shots, then came up with a steal to send the game into another five-minute period.

"It could have been over right then and there," said Carroll. "But you know what? Our guys stepped up. We stepped up and made free throws when it was critical. That was great to see."

"We're Blackhawks. That's what we do," said Steven Baker, who fouled out with 3 minutes, 5 seconds left in regulation.

Then Leggett stepped up when both teams were looking for fresh legs, a spark, something to end the marathon.

The freshman scored immediately after Mansa Habeeb knocked the tip in his direction. The Tetons turned the ball over and Leggett recorded two more points when Jeffers was called for goaltending. Arnold made it a quick six-point lead.

It was an advantage Williston State just could not overcome. The Blackhawks then made 9-of-12 free throws in the final 3:01.

"Coach told me to be ready. He told me coming out of halftime, 'Be ready to go,'" Leggett said. "When he called me to go to the bench, I was ready."

"Everybody played big," Baker said. "I was hacking and I fouled out. People stepped up. Everybody stepped up. Everybody. Everybody. It was exciting."

Lee helped send the game into overtime after the Tetons took a six-point lead in the waning moments of the second half. Then when they were up 97-92, Lee drained a 3-pointer to cut the lead to two. Abby Ruple Jr. cut the gap to one, and then Lee's free throw with 35.4 seconds remaining tied the game.

Clark missed with 1.5 seconds to go, and was called for charging.

"We just gutted it out. I'm glad we got this victory," said Lee, who was cramping in both legs as the game wore on.

The Tetons attempted 99 shots on the night; the Blackhawks 72. The teams combined for 99 rebounds, traded the lead eight times, and saw the score tied eight times.

Arnold paced four players who scored 20 points or more, scoring 29. Baker scored 22 and grabbed 11 rebounds.

The Blackhawks were not going to lose this game.

"I didn't want to lose," Lee said. "We made it to this round last year so we had to get past this hump."

"We finish celebrating. Then Hutch," said Baker.

SCC 121, Williston State 114

WILLISTON STATE



Thaddeus Perry 1-1 0-0 2, Charlie Chapman 8-26 2-4 23, Mario Hawkins 0-1 5-6 5, Jake Reynen 0-0 0-0 0, Tarell Clark 9-23 2-3 21, Luke Martinez 10-28 6-9 32, Jarek Hansen 0-0 0-0 0, Matt Kvernum 0-1 0-0 0, Lavardo Hepburn 2-3 1-2 5, Samile Jeffers 8-10 3-5 19, Moriba Defreitas 3-6 1-2 7. Totals: 41-99 20-31 114.

SOUTHEASTERN



Abby Ruple Jr. 7-8 7-12 21, A.D. Simmons 1-1 1-2 3, Steve Baker 8-12 5-5 22, Mansa Habeeb 2-6 3-6 7, Norvell Arnold 11-17 5-5 29, Mason Leggett 2-2 4-4 8, Paris Gulley 2-8 0-0 4, Jeron Lee 6-15 5-6 22, Rinaldo Mafra 2-3 1-2 5. Totals: 41-72 31-42 121.

Halftime: Southeastern 40, Williston State 36. End of regulation: Tied at 81. End of first overtime: Tied at 98. End of second overtime: Tied at 106. Rebounds: Williston State 54 (Clark 15), Southeastern 45 (Baker 11). Assists: Williston State 14 (Clark 7), Southeastern 14 (Arnold 6). Team fouls: Williston State 32, Southeastern 25. Fouled out: Perry, Jeffers, Defreitas, Baker, Habeeb. 3-point goals: Williston State 12-34 (Chapman 5-12, Hawkins 0-1, Clark 1-2, Martinez 6-19), Southeastern 8-22 (Baker 1-2, Habeeb 0-1, Arnold 2-5, Gulley 0-4, Lee 5-10). Steals: Williston State 3 (Perry, Hawkins, Clark), Southeastern 4 (Habeeb 2). Blocked shots: Williston State 3 (Martinez 2), Southeastern 1 (Lee). Turnovers: Williston State 13, Southeastern 17.

Records: Williston State 25-7, Southeastern 24-10.