- Freshmen Elijah Thomas and Cael McGee lead DMACC with 10 points apiece
- Bears' defense limits SWCC to 12 points in the second half
- DMACC will be the No. 3 seed in the NJCAA Division II Region XI tournament
Freshmen Elijah Thomas of Surprise, Ariz., and Cael McGee of Stoughton, Wis., scored 10 points apiece as the DMACC men's basketball closed the 2022-23 regular season with a 59-38 win over Southwestern Community College (SWCC) March 1 at Creston.
The Bears had a 34-26 lead at halftime and limited SWCC to 12 points in the second half in improving to 23-7 overall and 11-5 in the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC).
DMACC is ranked 16th in this week's Division II poll from the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) and will be the No. 3 seed in the NJCAA Division II Region XI Basketball tournament that begins on March 4.
The Bears never trailed in defeating SWCC for the second time this season. They had a 10-point lead at 20-10 with just less than 10 minutes to play in the first half and pulled away from a 22-20 advantage at the 5-minute mark to take a 34-26 lead into halftime. DMACC used a 20-4 run to open up a 54-30 advantage with 5 minutes, 25 seconds to play.
Freshman Kwat Abdelkarim of Lincoln, Neb., scored nine points for the Bears, freshman Jaron Crews of Ankeny scored eight points and sophomore Greg Brown of Omaha, Neb., and freshman Victor Desmond of Onalaska, Wis., had seven points apiece.
DMACC shot 41 percent, hitting 20 of 49 field goal attempts. The Bears were 7-of-25 from three-point range and 12-of-18 at the free throw line.
Abdelkarim grabbed a team-high seven rebounds as DMACC came away with a 39-23 advantage on the boards. Brown led the Bears in assists with six and Thomas topped the Bears in steals with four.
The quarterfinals and semifinals of the NJCAA Division II Region XI tournament will be played March 4 and 5 at Estherville. DMACC, which will be seeking its fourth consecutive Region XI championship, will face sixth-seeded Iowa Western Community College (IWCC) at 3 p.m. on March 4. The Bears and Reivers split their season series with IWCC getting an 86-83 win in double overtime Jan. 17 at Council Bluffs and DMACC prevailing by a 78-63 score Feb. 15 inside the DMACC gymnasium.
The DMACC-IWCC winner will play the Kirkwood Community College (KCC)-SWCC winner at 5 p.m. on March 5. KCC, the tournament's No. 2 seed, swept both games from DMACC during the regular season, 81-64 Dec. 17 at Cedar Rapids and 67-66 Feb. 23 inside the DMACC gymnasium.
The tournament championship game will be played March 9 at the home of the highest seeded team remaining in the tournament. KCC is the tournament's No. 2 seed and is ranked 12th in NJCAA Division II. Iowa Lakes Community College (ILCC) is the No. 1 seed. The Lakers are ranked fifth in the NJCAA Division II poll and split their season series with DMACC, getting a 96-85 win Dec. 10 inside the DMACC gymnasium and losing by a 74-72 score Feb. 11 at Estherville.