Rangers advance to 2nd round of NJCAA national tournament

Jorell Saterfield and Peyton Rogers-Schmidt pitched in double-double performances on Monday and powered the Ranger College men's basketball team into the second round of the 2021 NJCAA Division I National Basketball Tournament with an 86-68 victory over Cochise College.

"We came here to win," said Ranger College head coach Larry Brown. "Our guys came in feeling excited and they did what they had to do."

With the win, Ranger College improved to 20-4 for the season and, more importantly, advanced to the second round of the 24-team tournament. The Rangers were scheduled to play No. 4-seed John A. Logan College on Wednesday for the right to play in the quarterfinals.

Cochise College held its own against RC in the first half. Led by former Ranger standout Brian Rios, the Apaches jumped out to a 6-point lead, at 12-6, just 5 minutes into the contest. After Ranger had rallied back to take the lead, Rios and Stephen Byard kept Cochise within striking distance. Cochise went into the half trailing by just four, at 40-36.

A native of El Paso, Rios played at Ranger in 2018 but later transferred.

The Rangers took the wind out of the Apaches' sails in the second half. Backed by solid efforts from Saterfield and Rogers-Schmidt, RC pounded out a 46-32 run in the final 20 minutes to salt away the win.

Saterfield finished the game with 23 points and 11 rebounds, Rogers-Schmidt added 10 points and 12 boards.

Keisei Tominaga also chipped in a double-digit offensive effort, finishing with 14 points – six of which came via two three-point shots.

Trey Tennyson and Mark Mayle also tallied double figures, scoring 12 apiece.