Rochester, MN-
The top seeds from both Divisions of the Minnesota College Athletic Conference will face off tomorrow at 3pm on the Coon Rapids campus of Anoka-Ramsey Community College for the 2018-19 NJCAA Region XIII Men's Basketball title.
Northern Division champion Central Lakes College will take on Southern Division co-champion Riverland Community College as both teams dispatched their respective opponent in today's semi-finals.
The CLC Raiders ended the season for St. Cloud Technical & Community College Cyclones earlier today with a convincing 102-84 victory at ARCC. Central Lakes has won 14 straight games and are led by Chris Buckley and Tyree'on Johnson, both of whom are from Coon Rapids. Playing in front of home fans, Buckley scored 21 points and dished six assists in today's contest, while Johnson led all scorers with 23 points. JaQuavius Hayes had a big day off the bench for CLC, notching a double-double with 12 boards and 19 points. For SCTCC, Paul Coleman scored 22 off the bench for the Cyclones and Keshawn Sutton added 20. St. Cloud Community & Technical College ends its season at an impressive 22-5 overall. Central Lakes sits at 24-5 overall, heading into tomorrow's championship.
Riverland found a way to beat a good team three times in a season, rolling to a 82-62 win over Anoka-Ramsey Community College, the tournament host and victim of two regular-season losses to the Blue Devils. RCC saw a balanced scoring effort with five players reaching double-digits, led by Deandre Raggs and DeAndre Smith, both of whom notched 17 points on the day. Raggs also hauled in 11 boards, as did Kwantez Simmons. Southern Division Coach-of-the-year Derek Hahn saw Raggs turn in an outstanding shooting performance, as he was 6-of-8 from the floor and 5-of-6 from the foul line for the Blue Devils. Smith went one better than his teammate, also hitting 6-of-8 from the floor and going a perfect 5-of-5 from the foul line. Anoka-Ramsey was led by Nashiem Lozier with 18 points and six rebounds, both team-highs for the contest. The Golden Rams conclude their season at 17-12 overall.
Riverland defeated Central Lakes 77-66 on Saturday, December 22; tomorrow's championship looks to be a great showcase of MCAC and Region XIII men's basketball as well as a re-match between the two top performers over the course of the season.
Tomorrow's NJCAA Region XIII Men's Basketball Championship game, scheduled to tip-off at 3pm, will be streamed live at this link: http://arccgoldenrams.com/multimedia/Blueframe_Live_Stream
Click here for an updated printable tournament bracket; directions and parking for ARCC in Coon Rapids is at: https://www.anokaramsey.edu/about-usmaps-hours
For more on men's basketball in the MCAC, please note the links below:
MCAC Men's Basketball Standings: http://www.mcacsports.org/sports/mbkb/2018-19/standings
MCAC Men's Basketball Schedule: http://www.mcacsports.org/sports/mbkb/2018-19/schedule
NJCAA Division III National Statistical Leaders: http://www.njcaa.org/sports/mbkb/2018-19/div3/leaders
MCAC Men's Basketball Statistical Leaders: http://www.mcacsports.org/sports/mbkb/2018-19/leaders
All things NJCAA Basketball can be found on the NJCAA Basketball Twitter feed; click below for more info.
All things NJCAA Basketball can be found on the NJCAA Basketball Twitter feed; click below for more info.
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About the Minnesota College Athletic Conference
The Minnesota College Athletic Conference is the organizational body for NJCAA-affiliated two-year technical and community college athletic programs in the Minnesota State system. 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.