- Michael Hartford leads DMACC with 18 points in 84-66 win
- Jadan Graves, Noah Parcher and James Glenn also score in double figures
- Bears never trail after taking a 5-3 lead with the game less than two minutes old
The DMACC men's basketball team will defend the national championship it won a year ago after defeating Kirkwood Community College (KCC), 84-66, in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region XI championship game March 3 at Cedar Rapids.
The championship was the third straight for the Bears.
DMACC, which improved to 25-7 with its 15th win in the last 16 games, got 18 points from sophomore Michael Hartford of McKinney, Texas. Covid-19 sophomore (CoSO) Jadan Graves scored 16 points, CoSO Noah Parcher of LaCrosse, Wis., had 15 and freshman James Glenn of Altoona came away with 10.
The Bears, ranked eighth in the NJCAA Division II poll, never trailed after taking a 5-3 lead with game less than two minutes old. KCC took a 3-0 lead 30 seconds into the game but DMACC tied it on a three-pointer by freshman Greg Brown of Omaha, Neb., and then took a 5-3 advantage on a layup by Covid-19 freshman (CoFR) Goanar Biliew of Denison at the 18:22 mark of the first half. That basket ignited a 16-1 run that saw the Bears open up a 19-4 advantage with just more than 12 minutes left in the half.
KCC used a 16-4 run to close to within 23-20 at the 7:16 mark of the half but got no closer as the Bears took a 38-30 advantage into halftime.
A three-pointer and a regular basket from Graves, a pair of free throws by Biliew and a layup from Parcher lifted DMACC to a 47-30 lead 90 seconds into the second half and the Bears controlled the tempo throughout the second half, leading by as many as 20 points. KCC did close to within five at 50-45 with 12:47 remaining but a 10-0 run gave DMACC a comfortable 60-45 advantage with 9:50 remaining.
The Bears shot 48 percent in beating the 13th-ranked Eagles for the first time in three meetings this season. They were 26-of-54 from the field, 12-of-22 from three-point range and 20-of-22 from the free throw line. Hartford made four of his five three-point attempts and Brown was 3-of-5 from beyond the arc to account for all nine of his points.
DMACC had a 34-23 advantage in rebounding with freshman Allen Udemadu of Lagos, Nigeria, leading the way with six rebounds. CoFR Jean Francois of Coral Springs, Fla., had five rebounds and Hartford, Biliew and Brown had four apiece. Parcher led the Bears in assists with four and Brown added three. Parcher topped the Bears in steals with two.
The NJCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship will be played March 15 to 19 at Danville, Ill. Had the Covid virus not interrupted the 2020 season and forced cancellation of the national tournament, DMACC would be making its third consecutive appearance in the event.