Winona, MN-
Four nationally ranked men's basketball programs from the Minnesota College Athletic Conference will square off today in the 2019-20 NJCAA District Basketball Tournament semi-final round.
Winning teams will advance to tomorrow championship, while those which come up short today will turn their attention to the NJCAA Division III Men's Basketball At-Large process. In the expanded NJCAA 2019-20 Division III men's basketball format, four teams from around the county will be selected by committee to join eight NJCAA District Tournament winners to create a 12-team field at the 2019-20 NJCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championships, held in Rochester, Minnesota on March 11-14.
Anoka-Ramsey Community College in Coon Rapids, Minnesota is the site for today's semi-finals. Fans, families and followers of MCAC basketball will see a 4pm tip-off between St. Cloud Technical & Community College - currently No. 9 in the NJCAA poll - and the Blue Devils of Riverland Community College, sitting at No. 13 nationally.
The Cyclones (24-2) advanced on the strength of a 97-80 win over Rainy River Community College (15-13) on Friday afternoon. SCTCC had a 46-30 halftime advantage and had four players reach double-digits in scoring, cruising to their 24th win on the season.
Riverland jumped out to a large lead early in their contest with Northland Community & Technical College, only to see the Pioneers make a furious late push behind Baki Gubara's 38-point effort. Riverland held on for the first-round 98-92 triumph and will see SCTCC for the third time in five weeks; the two clubs have split their 2019-20 series, with each team winning at home during the regular season.
The 6pm semi-finals offers a rematch of the 2018-19 NJCAA District Tournament Championship, as fifth-ranked Rochester Community & Technical College (23-5) will take on No. 11 Central Lakes College (24-4) for the right to advance to Sunday's championship. Both Rochester CTC and Central Lakes claimed comfortable wins in the first round; CLC dispatched Ridgewater College (16-9), 105-83 while Rochester defeated Hibbing Community College (12-13) by a 98-75 scoreline.
Today's 6pm contest pits two of the most successful coaches in NJCAA Division III men's basketball against each other, with RCTC's Brian LaPlante and the Raiders' Jim Russell each approaching the 500-win mark over their tenures in Rochester and Brainerd. Additionally, the match-up will see the top two individual MCAC student-athletes in men's basketball face off, with Yellowjacket Kong Kong and Central Lakes standout Tyree'on Johnson taking the court. In the 2019-20 MCAC Men's Basketball All-State Team process, the two sophomores were the leading vote-getters in the MCAC Southern and Northern Division respectively.
Read on for more on today's 2019-20 NJCAA District Basketball Tournament semi-final action.
4PM Semi-Final: #9 St. Cloud Technical & Community College vs. #13 Riverland Community College
6pm Semi-Final: #5 Rochester Community & Technical College vs. #11 Central Lakes College
BlueFrame Live Stream Link: https://arccgoldenrams.com/multimedia/Blueframe_Live_Stream
Host College Information: https://www.arccgoldenrams.com/landing/index
NJCAA Division III Men's Basketball: https://www.njcaa.org/sports/mbkb/index
Minnesota College Athletic Conference
Men's Basketball Post-Season Honors:
2019-20 MCAC Southern All-Division Team: https://tinyurl.com/sgxgn6l
2019-20 MCAC Northern All-Division Team: https://tinyurl.com/vycjfma
2019-20 MCAC Men's Basketball All-State Team: https://tinyurl.com/r4k65qm
For more on MCAC Men's Basketball, please go to: https://www.mcacsports.org/sports/mbkb/index
The Minnesota College Athletic Conference is the organizational body for NJCAA-affiliated two-year technical and community college athletic programs in the Minnesota State Colleges & Universities system, as well as select member colleges in North Dakota and Wisconsin. The mission of the Minnesota College Athletic Conference is to advance intercollegiate athletics by providing an engaging and supportive environment for success of our student athletes and competition among member institutions. The MCAC is committed to the guiding principles of encouraging the development and success of student athletes, promoting the integrity, honesty and loyalty to member schools as well as upholding the sustainability of conference athletic programs.
Be sure to follow our MCAC Facebook and Twitter feeds @MCACSports
OUR PURPOSE
The Marine Corps defends the people of the United States at home and abroad. To do that, we make Marines who win our Nation's battles and return as quality citizens.
Our Mission
To be the best Sports Company in the World.
YOUR SPORTING GOODS PARTNER
When you want your team to look as good as they play, trust the experts at Nicklasson Athletic Company. With more than 80 years of combines sales expertise, NAC is on your team with the latest, most innovative apparel and products to help your team, school, corporation or organization look and play their best. When you look great, you play great.