ELLISVILLE – It came down to two players and one court on Saturday in the NJCAA Region 23 Men's Tennis Championship final.
Jan Bako defeated
Tom Garrett 6-7 (5-7), 7-5, 7-5 at No. 2 singles to give MGCCC a 5-4 victory in a five-plus hour marathon.
Jones trailed 2-1 after doubles and 4-1 in singles before mounting a huge comeback.
Juan Francisco Pereyra won a third-set tiebreak at No. 1 singles,
Ridge Jones a third-set tiebreak at No. 4 and
Luke Westmoreland won a third-set tiebreaker at No. 5 singles to tie the match at 4-4 and set up a fantastic finishing match.
Garrett was on the cusp of a win over Bako, leading 5-4 and needing two points to close it out. But Bako rallied to win the game to tie it at 5-5 in the third and won the next two games to take the set, 7-5.
Jones dropped to 16-2 on the year but will head to Plano, Texas, for the NJCAA Division II Men's Tennis Championship as the region runner-up May 11-15.
MGCCC, 13-6, captured its third region title in five years.
