Rochester, MN-
The men's basketball team at Central Lakes College was given the unenviable task of taking on top-seed and undefeated Suffolk County Community College in the first round of the 2019 NJCAA Men's Division III Basketball Championship tournament. However, the Raiders relished the opportunity and turned in a memorable performance en route to a 82-68 upset of the nation's top team.
Central Lakes went toe-to-toe with two more nationally prominent programs, falling in the semifinals to Rock Valley College 68-62 and were defeated by Richland College in the third-place game, 92-78. CLC enjoyed strong home crowd support and competed on a familiar court, as the 2019 NJCAA Men's Division III Basketball Championship are hosted by fellow MCAC program Rochester Community & Technical College and Rochester Sports.
Tyree'on Johnson led Central Lakes in scoring in their final game vs. Richland, as he tallied 18 points and grabbed eight boards. Four Raiders - Josh Arnold, Gavin Smith, JaQuavius Hayes and Al-Jureau Ray - tallied 11 points each on the day; Arnold also had four assists to lead Central Lakes in that category.
Central Lakes College - led by veteran mentor and MCAC Northern Division Coach-of-the-Year Jim Russell - ran away with the MCAC Northern Division title and Region XIII Championship in 2018-19. The Raiders finished 15-1 in Conference play and 26-7 overall for the year. Four sophomores will move on for Coach Russell; Chris Buckley (Coon Rapids, MN), Malik Kelly (Atlanta, GA), Al-Jureau Ray (Minneapolis, MN) and Dylan McLain (Brained, MN) all complete their CLC careers. Central Lakes had several players tabbed for All-Division, All-State and related accolades during their regular season and post-season competitions. The NJCAA All-America selections are made by the NJCAA Division III Men's Basketball Committee and will be named in early April; be sure to follow @NJCAABasketball for the most up-to-date information on end-of-season honors.
For more information on the MCAC All-Division, All-State, Players-of-the-Week awards and more, please visit the MCAC Men's Basketball home page and select 18-19 Honors & Awards tab or click here.
Read on for more information on NJCAA & MCAC Men's Basketball:
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.
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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.