NMJC MBB Finish Collin County Thanksgiving Classic 1-1

by Claire Cabello 

The T-Birds were on the road over Thanksgiving break to play in the Collin County Thanksgiving Classic. The team finished the tournament 1-1. 

On Friday the T-Birds went head-to-head with the Dallas College-North Lake Blazers as their first game of the tournament. It was a very close game as the the game went into overtime after two tight halves. The T-Birds scored 30 points in both the first and second half while the Blazers scored 28 in the first and 32 in the second ending the second half in a tie 60-60. In overtime the T-Birds scored 13 points putting them ahead by just 1 point at the end of the game, beating the Blazers 73-72. 

Top scorer for the T-Birds was freshman Mouhamed Mbaye with 19 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 block. Three other T-Birds also put up double digits. Freshman Dario Domingos scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Sophomore Dannie Smith ended the game with 14 points, 10 assists, and 7 rebounds. Freshman Elijah Beard had 11 points, 2 assists, and 2 rebounds. 

The T-Birds played their final game of the Thanksgiving Classic on Saturday against the Collin County Cougars. 

The Cougars held a small lead on the T-Birds in both the first and second half. The T-Birds fell to the Cougars 66-74. 

Lead scorer for the T-Birds was Elijah Beard with 20 points and 1 steal. Following Beard was Dannie Smith with 19 points, 10 assists, and 6 rebounds and Dario Domingos with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

The T-Birds will begin conference on Wednesday, December 1st as they will play Odessa College at the OC Sports Center in Odessa, TX at 7:30PM CST. They will not have a home game until January 2022.