Buckley, Johnson lead Central Lakes To National Tournament

Posted: Mar 03, 2019

Rochester, MN-

Chris Buckley scored 31 points and Tyree'on Johnson added 21 to lead Central Lakes College to a 88-81 victory over Riverland Community College to win the 2018-19 NJCAA Region XIII Men's Basketball Championship. With the victory, the Raiders earn a berth to the 2018-19 NJCAA National Championship Tournament.

CLC led at halftime 48-31 but Riverland clawed back in the second half, outscoring Central Lakes 50-40 after the break. In the end, it was not enough to change the outcome as Central Lakes moved to 25-5 on the season. The Blue Devils got 24 points from Terrell Smith and another 22 from Jalen Smith off the bench. Smith also had 8 assists and swiped three steals in a balanced effort for Riverland, who conclude the 2018-19 campaign at 24-6 overall.

In addition for accounting for 52 of the Raider's 88 points, Johnson also hauled in ten boards while Buckley dished out eight assist to add to the Raider effort. Johnson's 21 points came on 9-of-10 shooting from the floor. Northern Division Coach-of-the-Year Jim Russell saw JaQuavius Hayes contribute 13 points on just 17 minutes of action.

Central Lakes will likely enjoy strong support at the 2018-19 NJCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship held in Rochester, Minnesota at the UCR Regional Sports Center, home of the RCTC Yellowjackets. The 2018-19 NJCAA Championships will run March 14-16 in Rochester.

For more information on the National Championships, click here or visit: http://www.njcaa.org/sports/mbkb/2018-19/div3/national_championship/index

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.

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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.