Editor’s note: this story has been edited to fix the name of one of the quoted players. The last name of one of the players was misspelled.
The College of DuPage men’s basketball team fell short of a comeback against a strong Richard J. Daley College squad. Despite going back and forth during the first half of the game, the Chaparrals seemed to slow down after Daley took back the lead with 13 minutes left in the half.
The Bulldogs’ offense in the second half consisted of pick and rolls and simple drives to the paint after early shooting struggles from the three-point line.
“It was a tough game, which we knew it was going to be, and was very physical on the other side,” said men’s basketball head coach Joe Kuhn. “We had many turnovers in the second half along with giving up 11 offensive rebounds. I thought we played well in the first half, but after that we gave up too many turnovers. We need to take better care of the ball better and need to learn from these things that happen.”
The Chaparrals set the tone in the first half of the game with the help of freshman guard Tylon Toliver’s 16 points going into halftime with a 34-31 lead over Daley.
Toliver finished the game with a total of 20 points, a rebound, and a steal. After the loss, Toliver believed that the Chaparrals did not play to their full potential.
“Overall, we didn’t play at the level that we can play at,” said he. “We dropped down to the competition, and I played well, but I would rather have a win than drop 20 [points]. I think this team [Daley] was a good early test this season.”
The Chaparrals finished the second half with a total of 18 turnovers and gave up 11 offensive rebounds to the Bulldogs.
Late in the fourth, the combination of COD’s turnovers and foul trouble led to Daley running away with a 13-point lead over the Chaparrals halfway through the second half. The Chaparrals would finish the game with a total of 29 turnovers and shooting 34.5% from the field. With five minutes left in the game, Daley kept the momentum, maintaining a 62-54 lead as time started winding down.
After falling short of a comeback and finding their offensive rhythm in the second half, COD would go on to lose 66-59 to the Bulldogs.
The Chaparrals will take on Benedictine Junior Varsity at the College of DuPage and tip off at 7:00 p.m. on Nov. 16.