Morton College basketball celebrated its first sweep on Moraine Valley's home floor since 2005 when the No. 13 women rolled to a 99-43 win and the men topped the Cyclones 84-70 January 6th in Palos Hills.

Men's notes
Super sevens
Matas Deksnys was sizzling from the three-point stripe, knocking down a Panther career-best 7 in 10 attempts. He finished with a game-high 23 points and matched the number of three-pointers made in his last four games combined.
The freshman forward is discovering his stroke, though. He's made 59.1 percent of his threes (13 of 22) in the last three games.

Devin Spencer produced his third game this season with seven assists. His season high is nine against Black Hawk. To boot, he had zero turnovers against Moraine Valley.

J.R. Cison was 7 of 10 from two-point range in coming up with his 13th game in double figures this season. He finished with 19 points, going 8 of 16 from the field.

Bench play
Morton College's bench of Manny Rodriguez, Alan Eades, Deksnys, Ty McMurrin and Taeyon Neal proved their worth against Moraine Valley. They combined for 44 of Morton College's 84 points, shot 59.3 percent (16 of 27) from the field and had nine of the Panthers' 13 three-pointers. Rodriguez scored all of 10 of his points in the first half. McMurrin was solid with seven points, three rebounds, a steal and a block. Neal added five rebounds, one blocked shot and an assist.

X marks the spot
Xavier Spencer, a 6-foot freshman guard, blocked two more shots to bring his team-leading total to 13. He had 10 points, four rebounds, four assists and just one turnover in the win over Moraine Valley. Xavier's second for the Panthers in steals, rebounds and assists.

Big win
The Panthers maintained their poise when Moraine Valley opened the second half on an 8-0 run to tie things at 44. Xavier Spencer's driving layup put the Panthers back on top for good at 48-47. McMurrin helped the Panthers extend their lead, scoring five of Morton College's next eight points. Deksnys did the rest, dropping five three-pointers in a nine-minute stretch to push the Panther lead to double digits. 

"That's a good win for us," Morton College men's basketball coach Nick Radenkovich said. "Moraine Valley is one of the stronger team in our league."

Women's notes
Move over Bulls
With eight straight wins, the Bulls are generating a lot of buzz. But they aren't Chicagoland's hottest team. The Panther women equaled a program record with their ninth consecutive win in registered the most one-sided victory over Moraine Valley in series history. MC's 56-point margin of victory surpassed a 33-point win during a 2002 Region IV play-in game.

Advantage, Panthers
Morton College, 13-2 overall, was just one of two Skyway Conference teams to get in both games this week. Five games on the women's side were postponed this week due to COVID protocols. 

Next week is a big week for the No. 13 Panthers. They head to Crystal Lake Tuesday to face always-challenging McHenry (8-4) and host an Oakton team Thursday that inherited Morton College's title from a year ago of the NJCAA's most improved program.

The Owls, coached by former Panther men's basketball/men's golf alum Tony Sirisevich, are 10-1 and have reached the century mark twice this season. Oakton last won a conference game in 2017 and had just 13 wins the previous three seasons it fielded a team.

Hot stuff
Morton College's 99 points against Moraine Valley was a season-best. The Panthers last hit 99 points against Bay on February 20th, 2021, during a 53-point win.

Freshman guard Mia Simpson made eight straight field goals in the Moraine Valley win. She was 9 of 13 from the field in scoring 18 points. Jalyssa Carrasco also was efficient offensively, making all 4 of her shots to end up with 10 points and a career-best 6 assists. The freshman guard was 2 of 2 from two-point range and 2 of 2 from three.

The Panthers put five in doubles for just the second time this season. Dylan Van Fleet led the way with 19 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals. Tadriana Heard added 14 points, while Autumn Jones turned a career-high 12 points to go with 6 rebounds.

Brianna Hernandez and Josylin Simmons-Doxie matched career bests with nine and six points, respectively. Aden Edebali kicked in six points with a pair of three-pointers.

From three with glee
The Panthers were held to a season-low four three-pointers in Tuesday's 72-63 win over Waubonsee. But Morton College rebounded nicely with 16 threes against Moraine Valley. They aren't a one-trick pony, either, as Morton College made 22 of 39 twos for 56.4 percent against the Cyclones. 

National numbers
Morton College leads NJCAA Division II in made three-pointers with 164. The Panthers are second nationally in defensive average (44.3 points per game), ninth in opponent field-goal percentage (30.5 percent) and 11th in assist per game (18.8).
Heard is the nation's best with 64 three-pointers. Her 258 points is ninth nationally. Simpson ranks fourth in field-goal percentage at 65.0, making 89 of 137 attempts. Van Fleet's 91 rebounds on the defensive end puts her ninth nationally.

The Panthers have been in the NJCAA's top 20 for a Morton College-record 17 consecutive weeks. They're 30-4 in coach Jason Nichols' two seasons at 38th Street and Central Avenue. Morton College also is 17-0 at home and 18-0 against Illinois Region 4 opponents.