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HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Cinderella is still dancing.

The Triton College (Illinois) Trojans, a No. 11 seed, built a big lead and then held off a furious rally by No. 3 ranked and No. 3 seeded Kilgore College to take a 76-65 win on Thursday in a quarterfinal battle at the NJCAA Men’s Division I National Basketball Tournament at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.

Kilgore, which trimmed a 21-point lead down to eight late in the contest, ends the year with a 31-3 record. The Rangers were ranked No. 9 in the preseason poll, jumped into the top five during the opening week and stayed there the rest of the year.

Triton, a relative newbie to Division I after several successful seasons at the Division II level, improves to 30-5 and advanced to the tournament’s Final Four.

The Trojans, who knocked off No. 6 seeded Indian River State (Florida) on Wednesday, held Kilgore to one bucket in the first 11 minutes of the second half to build a big cushion. KC, which had won 11 in a row heading into Thursday’s game, didn’t go away quietly.

Da’Veon Thomas, who had KC’s lone hoop early, heated up late and nearly led the Rangers on a comeback for the ages.

Thomas, who finished with a game-high 26 points, scored 19 in the second half. The Rangers trailed by 21 (61-40) when he heated up. His 3-pointer, a short running jumper and two free throws preceded four free throws from Dantwan Grimes, two more charity shots by Thomas, a 3-pointer from Grimes and a steal and layup by Isaac Hoberecht.

That pulled KC to within nine, and then a free throw and layup by Grimes after a layup from Triton’s J.J. Kalakon got the deficit down to eight (67-59) with 3:29 left.

The Trojans put it away with a quick 5-0 run.

Three free throws by Da’Sean Nelson late made it a 9-point contest (74-65) with 44 seconds left, but free throws by the Trojans iced the win.

Grimes finished his KC career with 10 points, five rebounds and four steals. Paul Otieno added nine points and six rebounds, Nelson eight points, Mason Taylor five, Hoberecht four and Posey three.

Four Trojans scored in twin figures, led by Cobie Montgomery with 18. Brandon Muntu and Kalakon added 16 apiece, and Cam Denson had 12.

The Rangers, who had held eight of their last 11 opponents to 60 points or less, had things going the way they wanted in the first half despite trailing 31-29. The high-scoring Trojans struggled early, falling behind by five after a triple from Thomas at the 7:55 mark, but built a six-point lead on a triple from Denson and settled for a 31-29 lead at the break.

The lid slammed shut on the Rangers in the second half.

After a layup by Otieno a little more than a minute into the half, KC got nothing but free throws until Thomas’ 3-pointer at the 9:40 mark.