Mountain View Captures District Title, Punches Ticket to New York

ASHTON PRICE INTERVIEW | LeROI PHILLIPS INTERVIEW | DISTRICT TOURNAMENT PAGE

DALLAS – Dallas College Mountain View's magical run has booked the Lions a trip to New York.

Mountain View beat 15^th-ranked Dallas College Richland 94-85 in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III South Central District Championship Saturday afternoon at Richland's Thunderducks Gym in front of 303 fans. It is the Lions third district championship, having won back-to-back titles in 2010-11.

The Lions (15-18) punched their ticket to the NJCAA Division III National Tournament in Herkimer, New York, March 12-15. And they did so after winning three straight postseason games, knocking off the top two seeds.

"It feels amazing," Mountain View sophomore swingman Ashton Price said after scoring a career-high 43 points. "It gives everybody on the team a chance to play some more games, and it's really great that we didn't sell our season short."

Mountain View is headed back to the national tournament for the first time since winning it all in 2011 under 20-year head coach LeRoi Phillips.

"Well, it's about time," Phillips said. "It's been a long, long time for us to get to the top. I'm just so happy for Dallas College Mountain View, and I'm happy for my team. I hope we can go out there and represent us very well."

Price, coming off the final Dallas Athletic Conference Player of the Week honor, went 12 of 26 from the field, and had 12 rebounds, seven assists and three blocks in a monster game. He scored 27 points in the second half.

"Just talking to my teammates and them encouraging me, and telling me that they're behind me 100 percent, they're rocking with me wherever, however," Price said. "So it was just a blessing to see my teammates beside me when I was playing."

Mountain View went 24 for 28 from the free throw line, and outrebounded the top-seeded Thunderducks, who captured the DAC regular season title, 48-41.

Augustine Chibuko had 19 points, 10 boards and six blocks for the Lions. Adrian Banks had 15 points on 5-of-8 three-point shooting. Louis Conner had eight points, seven rebounds and six assists.

Richland's Nehemiah Jones and Mannie Odo both had 17 points. Odo grabbed eight of his 13 rebounds on the offensive glass. He was 8 of 13 from the field. Jones shot 8 of 15 from the field. Cjay Ingram finished with 15 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Trey Wright had 13 points and two steals, while sinking 7 of 10 free throws. Barack Holland added 13 points.

Jones hit a layup with 15:37 to play to pull Richland within one. Price's 3 at the 13:29 mark extended the Lions' lead back to five. Conner hit a triple of his own to make it 65-57. Jeremiah Talib's triple at the 9:05 mark gave the Lions a 10-point bulge. Odo scored with 5:27 to go to pull the Thunderducks within five. Price converted a three-point play a little over a minute later to stretch the Lions' lead back to nine. Holland's 3 with 1:34 left made it an eight-point game, but Chibuko threw down a dunk to build the lead back to double digits. Ingram's free throw with 52 seconds remaining cut the deficit to seven, but the Lions held off the Thunderducks down the stretch.

Mountain View hit 10 of 21 triples. Richland (20-11) was 3 of 15 from beyond the arc. Richland outscored Mountain View 54-38 in the paint. Mountain View had 23 second chance points to Richland's 13. The Thunderducks' bench outscored the Lions substitutes 20-3.

"Just seeing how me and my teammates have come a long way since the beginning of the season … and see how we can pull together these last three games really means a lot," Price said. "It's really a confidence builder and booster for our team and for our coaches as well."

Mountain View hit 15 field goals and five 3-pointers in both halves. Richland was 16 of 36 in the first half and 17 of 41 in the second.

As the tunes filtered through the speakers, "Only in New York …" Lions faithful gathered on the floor as photos were taken, embraces shared and championship t-shirts passed out to the Mountain View crew.

"It feels really good," Phillips said in the Lions locker room following the after party. "I hope it goes the way I want it to. At the end of the tournament, I want to be in that championship game, and bring in another championship here to Dallas."