Nate Wilson and South Georgia Tech Jets are bound for the Junior College (NJCCA) National Championships. In the Grand-Final of the Region 17 Tournament the Jets won an overtime thriller 87-84 to book their ticket. The former Mt Albert Grammar forward scored 7 points on a perfect three-from-three from the floor, corralled 4 rebounds, a steal and a block.
Dejaan Schuler and Casper College are also National Championship bound. Schuler scored 11 points as Casper defeated Laramie County 69-52 in the semi-final of the Region 9 Tournament. Casper followed that with a 71-57 success against Eastern Wyoming in the Grand Final (scorers from that game were not published at the time of posting this story).
The NJCAA Championship Selection Show will be held tomorrow. With Southern Idaho (featuring Ashlee Strawbridge and Kyra Paniora) having booked a spot earlier in the week Western Nebraska (featuring Izzy Cook and Rashaan Smith) will be hoping the Selection Committee looks favourably on their strong regular season performances.
Men’s NCAA Division I
Callum McRae scored 14 points (5/7FG, 4/4FT) and Flynn Cameron 7 points as UC Riverside were pipped 73-72 at Long Beach State. McRae pulled down 10 rebounds to give him his 8th double-double of the season and 4th in the last 5 games ahead of the Big West Tournament.
Sam Mennenga also notched 14 points as Davidson University Wildcats dropped their final Atlantic 10 Conference game to Dayton 82-76. Mennenga also came up with 3 rebounds and a block at the defensive end. Davidson, with a 15-3 record are guaranteed at least a share of the A-10 regular season title.
Yuat Alok had 7 points (3/4FG) as New Mexico State ensured at least a share of the Western Athletic Conference regular season title with a 62-46 win at Utah State.
Sam Waardeburg and Miami University Hurricanes finished off the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season in style beating Syracuse 75-72. Ahead of the ACC Tournament Waaardenburg had 6 points, 5 rebounds, a block and a steal.
Colorado State 71 (James Moors 2 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal) Boise State 68
Abilene Christian 61 (Tobias Cameron 5 points, 2 rebounds 2 assists) Tarleton State 56
Fordham 70 (Zach Riley 2 points) Goeorge Washington 66
In women’s Division I action Lauryn Mapusua had 6 points (2/3 3PG) and 3 rebounds as Houston Baptist defeated McNeese to finish a lofty 12-2 in Southland Conference play.
The win gives the Huskies its first ever Southland Conference regular season title. Queensland educated Mapusua played for New Zealand at the 2017 FIBA U18 Oceania Championship in Guam.
Emme Shearer and Portland University Pilots overwhelmed Loyola Marymount 69-44 in quarter-final action at the West Coast Conference Championship. Portland will now take on top-ranked BYU, boasting Kiwis Tegan Graham, Kaylee Miler and Arielle Mackey-Williams, in the semi-final.
Florida International 72 (Grace Hunter 1reb, 2 assists) Florida Atlantic 56
St Peter’s,New Jersey 43 (Victoria Ikenasio 4 points, 6 rebounds) Fairfield 56
UC Irvine 67 (Olivia Williams 2 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist) CSU Bakersfield 52
NCAA Division II
In the East Coast Conference semi-final St Thomas Aquinas were well beaten by Molloy 71-49. Chanel Brodeur-Muirhad 4 rebounds, 3 assists, a block and 2 points in the loss.
Eva Langton and Texas A&M International were beaten 75-56 by top seeded West Texas A&M in the Lone Star Conference quarters. The Taranaki wing dealt in triples with threes in points, rebounds and assists in the defeat.
LACEY LOWDOWN 