This past week, the DMACC Men’s Basketball team opened up the NJCAA Division II national tournament with a 76-59 win over Parkland Community College on Tuesday, March 14th.
Going into halftime, the Bears had their lead on a short string, only being up by two, putting the score at 35-33. With a strong second half, the Bears outscored the Cobras 41 to 26 to pull away with the win.
Jadan Graves of Syracuse, New York, led the Bears with 21 points, Allen Udemadu of Lagos, Nigeria, trailed with 13 points, and Noah Parcher of LaCrosse, Wisconsin, ended with 12 points to push the Bears to the next round. The Bears had a major advantage on the Cobras when it came to rebounds grabbing 40 boards compared to the Cobras 28. Graves and Hartford contributed 11 of those boards.
This win led the Bears to face Milwaukee Area Tech (MATC) that following Thursday in the quarterfinals.
Both teams had a slow start with no points on the board til four minutes into the competition. Jimarius Sneed started hot for the Bears coming off the bench scoring the first five points of the game. The Bears were led by Covid Sophomore, Goanar Biliew scoring 23 points and grabbing 7 boards. Jadan Graves and Noah Parcher both scored 16 and 14 points, respectfully. The Bears also had great contributions from the bench, adding 21 points together.
The 85-70 point win against MATC advanced the Bears to the semifinals to face the Bulldogs of South Suburban Community College on Friday.
The Bulldogs came into the competition on an undefeated season, amassing 32 wins. Knowing this huge accomplishment, the Bears were ready to put up a fight.
Going into halftime, the Bears only trailed the Bulldogs by two, 30 to 28. Sadly, the second-half fight was not enough for the Bears to advance to the next round of the tournament.
The ending result of the semifinal game being a 69-57 loss would send the Bears to the consolation bracket where they would play for third place. The Bears were led by Micheal Hartford with 12 points and Jimarius Sneed, off the bench, with 10 points.
The Bears were to play Sullivan County Community College where they came out on top with an 87-76 win to take home third place. Four of the five starters ended the game in double-digit points and Allen Udemadu, off the bench, added 14.
Stayed tuned for an end of the season interview with men’s basketball coach, Brett Putz, on all of Banner News socials.