• DMACC plays without Trevian Carson, one of its top players
• Freshmen Dylan Omweno and Andrew Austin lead DMACC with 17 points apiece
• Bears cut 24-point deficit to nine points with two and a half minutes left

Henry Ford College (HFC) handed the DMACC men's basketball team an 86-75 loss today in the consolation bracket of the 2025 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II Men's Basketball Championship ending the season for the Bears.

DMACC, playing without one of its top players in sophomore Trevian Carson of Des Moines, closed the season at 29-5. Carson, the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) Division II Men's Basketball Player of the Year, sat out the game with an injury. He had been battling injuries throughout the late stages of the regular season.

DMACC scored the game's first four points on baskets from freshmen Andrew Austin of Rock Rapids and Jaden Jefferson of Forney, Texas, but HFC answered with a 13-0 run and never looked back. The Hawks led 49-33 at halftime and outscored DMACC 14-6 in the first four minutes of the second half for their largest lead at 63-39.

DMACC, led by 17 points apiece from Austin and freshman Dylan Omweno of Apple Valley, Minn., cut a 75-58 lead to 75-64 with 5 minutes, 43 seconds to play, on back-to-back three-pointers by Omweno and with 2:28 remaining sophomore Demerius Shakur of Milwaukee, Wis., made a pair of free throws to make it a 75-66 game. That was as close as DMACC would get.

The Bears, who got a double-double from Fisher, 16 points and 12 rebounds, shot 40 percent from the field, making 29 of 73 field goal attempts. They were 8-of-36 from three-point range for 22 percent and 7-of-11 from the free throw line for 64 percent.

HFC, which made 14 of its first 26 shots from the field, including 8-of-12 from three-point range, shot 49 percent with 33 field goals from 67 shots. The Hawks were 14-of-32 from three-point range and 6-of-10 from the free throw line.

HFC had a 42-39 advantage on the boards with Fisher's 12 rebounds leading the Bears. Austin added six and Shakur and Jefferson had four apiece. Shakur and Fisher topped DMACC in assists with three apiece and Shakur had a team-high two steals.

In addition to closing the season at 29-5, DMACC was 17-1 in the ICCAC, winning its second consecutive regular season championship. The Bears were ranked in the top 10 of the NJCAA Division II poll throughout the season, including a No. 3 ranking in the final poll of the season. DMACC was making its nine appearance in the national tournament dating back to 2002 and its fifth appearance in the past six seasons. The Bears won the national championship in 2021, finished third in 2022 and fifth in 2024. They had fourth-place finishes in 2015 and 2002 and were eighth in 2007.