The competition

Here is a thumbnail look at the AQ teams Salem CC could face in the JUCO Division III national tournament, March 12-15, 4 at-large teams will be announced Wednesday with the bracket

TEAMS (Nat. Rank)	REC	OFF (RK)	DEF (RK)	RB (RK)	RBA (RK)
Dutchess CC (1)	26-1	82.5 (22)	62.3 (2)	42.1 (19)	31.8 (15)
Mohawk Valley (3)	26-1	83.5 (19)	46.2 (7)	61.7 (1)	33.7 (21)
Minn. State C&T (4)	29-2	89.7 (5)	70.1 (15)	39.6 (32)	30.5 (9)
Sandhills (5)	27-6	96.5 (1)	84.7 (76)	49.6 (3)	36.3 (35)
Union (7)	23-4	86.6 (8)	71.9 (19)	46.9 (6)	30.6 (11)
Northern Essex (8)	28-3	90.7 (3)	70.8 (16)	45.9 (9)	28.5 (3)
Salem CC	23-7	86.6 (7)	72.4 (24)	43.8 (13)	38.6 (55)
Dallas Col.-Mountain View	15-18	86.2 (9)	86.3 (79)	32.9 (75)	36.5 (37)

JUCO DIVISION III TOURNAMENT
March 21-15, Herkimer (N.Y.) College
(Automatic qualifiers)

SALEM CC MIGHTY OAKS
LOCATION: Carneys Point, N.J. (Region 19)
COACH: Mike Green (2nd season, 32-16)
RECORD: 23-7 (North Atlantic District B)
NATIONAL RANK: Unranked
PROJECTED STARTERS: 6-3 G Tamir Powell (10.8 ppg, 3.4 rpg); 6-6 G Tyrese Fortune (11.3, 6.7); 6-3 G Xavier Brewington (10.7, 4.9); 6-4 G Akeem Taylor (21.2, 5.4); 6-8 F Jyheim Spencer (13.1, 14.1).
NOTES: The Mighty Oaks have won five in a row … Gone 13-3 since Powell, Taylor and Spencer joined the lineup Jan. 7 … Taylor was district tournament MVP … Spencer has 10 double-doubles and would be ranked second nationally (Division III) in rebounding had he played enough games to qualify for the stats … Brewington and Josh Ramos (72 3-pointers) have played in all 30 games

UNION COLLEGE OWLS
LOCATION: Cranford, N.J. (Region 19)
COACH: Devon Stanberry (9th season)
RECORD: 23-4 (North Atlantic A)
NATIONAL RANK: 7
PROJECTED STARTERS: 6-6 G/F David McKnight (9.1, 3.4); 6-8 G/F Nick Acosta (17.9, 12.1); 6-3 G Joey Gargiulo (14.1, 3.9); 6-2 G Kayne Brown (6.9, 2.4); 6-11 C Jeremiah Saint Jean (5.9, 7.9).
NOTES: The Owls have won four in a row and 15 of last 16  … Devin Geiger is averaging 17.0 ppg, 6.1 rpg … Acosta has 59 blocked shots, Saint Jean has 46 … Leads the country in shooting percentage (.641)

NORTHERN ESSEX KNIGHTS
LOCATION: Haverhill, Mass. (Region 21)
COACH: Darren Stratton (22nd season, 350-209)
RECORD: 28-3 (East)
NATIONAL RANK: 8
PROJECTED STARTERS: 6-2 G Ryan Pacy (9.1, 2.9); 5-10 G Javien Kirmil (11.8, 1.8); 6-2 G Yunosuke Matsuda (4.7, 3.5); 6-7 F Christian Sanders (8.5, 6.9); 6-4 F Alejandro Delgado (15.0, 8.6).
NOTES: The Knights have won five in a row … Led their region championship game a total of 36 seconds. Stratton got his 350th career win in that game … Roster has players from four foreign countries (Cameroon, Japan, France, Turkiye) … Matsuda had 118 assists.

SANDHILLS CC FLYERS
LOCATION: Pinehurst, N.C. (Region 10)
COACH: Mike Apple (14th season, 361-97)
RECORD: 27-6 (Mid-Atlantic)
NATIONAL RANK: 5
PROJECTED STARTERS: 6-1 G Kevin Gentry (5.1, 1.5); 6-2 G Mike Fee (5.6, 3.4); 6-5 G Isaiah Upchurch (13.8, 3.7); 6-6 F Damien Robinson (18.5, 12.4); 6-6 F Zack Noel (8.9, 8.2).
NOTES: The Flyers have won 14 in a row, in which they’ve scored 100 points or more seven times … Making seventh straight trip to national tournament … Lead Division III nationally in scoring (96.5).

MOHAWK VALLEY CC HAWKS
LOCATION: Utica, N.Y. (Region 3)
COACH: Harley Fuller (4th season, 106-30)
RECORD: 26-1 (North)
NATIONAL RANK: 3
PROJECTED STARTERS: 6-0 G Jamir Smith (14.6, 3.5); 6-3 G Jalen Bradberry (16.2, 3.2); 6-8 C Andre Pasha (14.3, 11.2); 6-10 F Isaiah Earl (9.8, 7.0); 6-6 G/F Alex Barnhill (14.3, 9.0).
NOTES: The Hawks have won eight in a row … Smith has 141 assists … Bradberry has hit 64 3-pointers and shot 40.5 percent behind the arc … Leads the nation in scoring defense (61.7 ppg) and shooting defense (.365)

DUTCHESS CC FALCONS
LOCATION: Poughkeepsie, N.Y. (Region 15)
COACH: Robert Piano (4th season, 78-32)
RECORD: 26-1 (Northeast)
NATIONAL RANK: 1
PROJECTED STARTERS: 6-2 G Seiray Sinerna (9.1, 4.3); 6-7 F Quincey Platt (8.4, 7.1); 6-3 G Alijah England (16.8, 6.0); 5-9 G Amadou Diallo (11.8, 3.9); 5-10 G Daniel Ogunleye (5.9, 1.1).
NOTES: The Falcons have won three in a row … Ranked second in scoring defense (62.3 ppg),  and shooting defense (.373) and third in turnovers created (18.9). They’re second in the country in steals (15.0) and third in blocks (6.8) … “We had an idea what we had with this roster and, we talked about it in August, that we expect to be great,” Piano told the Poughkeepsie Journal after the region championship game.

MINNESOTA STATE COMMUNITY & TECHNICAL COLLEGE SPARTANS
LOCATION: Fergus Falls, Minn.(Region 13)
COACH: Dave Cresap (2nd season, 43-15)
RECORD: 29-2 (North Plains)
NATIONAL RANK: 4
PROJECTED STARTERS: 6-2 G Mason Muir (16.6, 4.0); 6-4 F Fodar Sheriff (21.8, 10.6); 6-4 G Yonis Mohamud (15.9, 4.1); 5-11 G Braylon Baldwin (4.5, 2.7); 6-5 F Tyson McArthur (9.4, 5.3).
NOTES: M State has won 14 in a row … Making first national tournament appearance since 2003-04 … Made 15-win turnaround over last season … Sheriff, who lists Upper Darby as his hometown though he went to high school is North Dakota, was MVP of the region tournament … Muir has 131 assists, Sheriff 137 … Ranked second nationally in 3s per game (9.5) … Cresap won 666 games in 28 years as a high school coach before making the jump to college.

DALLAS COLLEGE-MOUNTAIN VIEW LIONS
LOCATION: Dallas, Texas (Region 5)
COACH: LeRoi Phillips (19th season, 315-249)
RECORD: 15-18 (South Central)
NATIONAL RANK: Unranked
PROJECTED STARTERS: 6-5 F Augustine Chibuko (14.2, 8.9); 5-9 G Louis Conner (8.5, 5.1); 6-3 G Noel Duplechain (7.8, 2.7); 6-1 G Adrian Banks (6.2, 1.0); 6-4 G Ashton Price (24.8. 5.7)
NOTES: The Lions have won four in a row and have scored 90-plus in each of their last five … They started the season 3-8 and were 5-11 on Dec. 14 … Ranked ninth nationally in scoring (86.2), but 79th in scoring defense (86.3) … Price has averaged 35 points over the last five games, shooting 63-for-123 from the floor … Chibuko has 66 blocked shots, but he’s fouled out of 11 games … Conner is averaging 8.1 assists per game.