No. 25 Indians Punch Ticket to Region 23 Title Game Behind Winston, Fox

FULTON, Miss. - The No. 25 Indians were staring at a grind when Kyler Fox changed the game with one monster finish at the rim.

With ICC trailing 11-9 inside the 12-minute mark of the first half, Fox rose for a dunk that lit the fuse on a game-turning 21-0 run, and the Indians never fully gave back control on the way to an 83-66 win in the NJCAA Region 23 Semifinals.

That stretch flipped the night.

What had been a tight, tense semifinal quickly turned into an ICC takeover as the Indians swarmed the glass, stacked stops and turned pressure into points. Fox was at the center of it, finishing a perfect 7-for-7 from the floor with 14 points and 12 rebounds while helping anchor a dominant interior effort. ICC finished with a 43-30 edge on the glass and 13 offensive rebounds that kept possession after possession alive.

Damarion Winston delivered the headline performance.

After pouring in 13 points in the first half, Winston picked up his third foul just one second into the second half and headed to the bench, putting ICC in a difficult spot. The Indians had to navigate the middle stretch without their leading scorer, and when Winston finally returned at the 11-minute mark, he immediately brought control back with him.

From there, he closed like a star.

Winston scored 19 points in the second half and went 11-for-11 at the free-throw line during the closing stretch, steadying ICC as the Bulldogs tried to climb back into it. He finished with a game-high 32 points on 8-of-16 shooting, knocked down three 3-pointers and hit 13 of his 14 free throws in one of his biggest performances of the season.

Fox gave ICC its spark, but Winston gave it the finish.

DJ Davis added eight points and 10 rebounds, Jaden Harper scored seven with five rebounds and three assists and Jason Johnson added seven points, four rebounds and two blocks. Tim Holliday chipped in seven points off the bench, and Dailin Cooperwood gave the Indians six points and three steals in an active reserve effort.

As a team, ICC hit 20 of 22 free throws and came up with nine steals while controlling the game through long stretches after that first-half burst.

Up next, the Indians will host Jones College in the NJCAA Region 23 Championship on Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Davis Event Center. It marks ICC's first trip to the regional title game since the 2009-10 season, and the Indians will be chasing their first berth in the NJCAA National Tournament since 2008. Admission is $10 at the gate, and the game will stream at LetsGoICCTV.com/red.