CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Parkland College men’s basketball team upset the reigning national champions on Saturday, February 4th, knocking off No. 6 South Suburban College 79-74 at home. The Cobras shot over 47 percent from the field, 45 percent from beyond the arc and 91 percent from the free throw line in a thrilling win. With the game tied 74-74, leading-scorer Brylan Phillips (18 points) hit a go-ahead three with four seconds to go before the Cobras forced a turnover, and Sean Ealy (9 points) nailed two free throws at the death to give the team their first ranked win of the season.
“We can play with a lot of really good teams,” head coach John Bowler said after the win. “I think the biggest key to the game was Brylan finally really shook his freshman shell. He stepped up really big when we needed him to.”
“We know we got a special freshman class, and we know we got some really tough sophomores, but we need guys to really mature quickly,” Bowler continued, “and I think our experience from this year really showed at the end.”
The Cobras (11-9) fell behind early, trailing 9-3 two minutes into the game against the Bulldogs (21-4). Freshman Don Coats III knocked down his second three with 14:31 left in the half to give Parkland a 12-10 lead and force South Suburban to take an early timeout. The Cobras led by as many as seven points before a 12-3 Bulldog run put South Suburban on top, 29-27, with 3:36 to go. The two teams then traded free throws, and South Suburban held a 37-33 lead at the end of a back-and-forth first half. The Bulldogs led by nine early in the second half, but the Cobras retook the lead, 43-42, on a Daniel Reed three with 14:39 on the clock, forcing South Suburban to call timeout. The second half featured nine ties and 13 lead changes as the two teams traded hard-fought buckets down the stretch. Parkland led 65-63 after two Sean Ealy free throws with 4:28 remaining, but a quick, two-possession 6-0 South Suburban run put the Cobras behind 69-65 with three minutes left. In the closing stages, Parkland turned to Decatur native Brylan Phillips, and the freshman delivered. On three-straight possessions, Phillips drove for a layup to cut the Bulldog lead to 71-70, knocked down a go-ahead fade away runner to give the Cobras the lead and bullied his way inside for a bucket to make the score 74-71 with 38 seconds on the clock. South Suburban answered with a game-tying three, but Phillips wasn’t done, improvising to hit the game-winning three with 4.1 seconds remaining. South Suburban turned the ball over on the next possession, and Ealy knocked down two late free throws as he and Phillips combined to score the Cobras’ final 16 points in the 79-74 win.
Statistical Overview:
- Bylan Phillips: 18 points
- Clovis Gallon Jr: 14 points (3-4 3PT), 4 rebounds
- Jabryn Anderson: 12 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists
- Don Coats III: 10 points, 11 rebounds
- Sean Ealy: 9 points (7-7 FT)
Up next, Parkland travels to Ina, Illinois to match up against Rend Lake College on Wednesday, February 8th. Tip-off against the Warriors (6-14) is scheduled for 6:00 PM.
