Roane State Community College

Photo: The Roane State Raiders celebrate their historic win showing off some of the awards they collected from the overtime win over Dyersburg State.

March 1, 2022

DYERESBURG, Tenn. – It took 50 years and a five-minute overtime period for the Roane State Raiders men’s basketball team to win their first-ever conference championship.

The third-seeded Raiders knocked off number one seed Dyersburg State in overtime Tuesday night, 78-75, to clinch the TCCAA/NJCAA Region VII championship.

Next stop for Head Coach Alan Holt’s Raiders is a trip to the NJCAA National Tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas, March 14-19.

Roane State’s Alec Kegler led all scorers in the contest with 25 points, including an 11-for-12 performance from the free throw line and a game high 16 rebounds. Kegler, who had earlier been named first team All-TCCAA for the season, was later awarded the tournament MVP trophy.

The Raiders, who had lost both prior meetings with Dyersburg, led the contest by six points at halftime, 37-31. Dyersburg State fought back to tie the score, 41-41, with 18:06 to play in the second period.

With only 4:23 remaining in the contest, Roane State took a ten-point lead, 64-54, when Kegler connected on a pair of free throws.

The Eagles rattled off eight unanswered points to pull within two, 64-62, with 1:55 to go in regulation.

Roane State’s Kegler scored off a rebound with 1:20 to play to give the Raiders a 66-62 lead.

With 38.9-seconds to play, Dyersburg connected on a three-pointer, cutting the Raiders lead to one point, 66-65.

On the Raiders’ ensuing possession, Kegler went to the line with 11-seconds to go in regulation after being fouled. With a season average of 84-percent from the charity stripe, Kegler connected on both attempts, giving Roane State a three-point advantage, 68-65.

After a timeout, the Eagles quickly brought the ball down court where Creshaun Johnson buried a three-pointer that tied the game at 68 with only 1.5 seconds to play.

The Raiders could not connect as time expired and the championship game went to overtime.

In the five minute overtime period, the two teams swapped baskets and the game remained tied at 72 with 1:18 remaining.

Dyersburg committed a turnover under their own basket with 59.7-seconds to play. Once again, Roane State got the ball into the hands of Kegler who was fouled while shooting, sending him back to the line with 41.5-seconds to play.

The Clarksville, Tenn. native connected on both shots giving the Raiders a 74-72 lead.

On their next possession, Dyersburg attempted and missed a 3-pointer from the right corner. Austin McKeehan came down with the rebound. Two passes later the ball was in the hands of Kegler who was immediately fouled, sending him to the free-throw line again.

Kegler hit the first and missed the second attempt, giving the Raiders a three point lead, 75-72.

The Eagles quickly got the ball down court but missed a shot in the lane. Once again, McKeehan came away with the rebound for Roane State and was immediately fouled sending him to the charity stripe with 10.8-seconds to play.

McKeehan, from Cosby, Tenn., connected on the first, but missed his second attempt. The first shot, however, gave the Raiders a four point lead, 76-72.

Dyersburg’s Greg Gordon buried on a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 3.2-seconds to play, cutting Roane State’s lead to one, 76-75.

After back-to-back timeouts, the Raiders worked the ball in to Kegler who was fouled again, this time with 2.1-seconds showing on the clock. He sank both free throws, giving RSCC another three point lead, 79-75.

On the ensuing inbound play, Dyersburg threw the ball out of bounds giving the ball back to the Raiders with 1.5-seconds showing on the game clock.

When the Raiders attempted to inbound the ball, it was knocked out off a Roane State player giving Dyersburg one more chance with .3-seconds remaining.

The Eagles’ final shot as time expired drew iron and rolled around the rim, but did not fall, allowing the Roane State Raiders to take home their first conference championship in the school’s 50-year history.

For the Raiders, Floyd Williams added 13 points in the win while Isaiah Poore chipped in 12 and Amauri Young contributed 10 points. Austin McKeehan had 14 rebounds for the Raiders.