Salem CC installed as No. 10 seed in JUCO Division III national tournament, draws No. 7 at-large Riverland (Minn.) CC in opening round
| TALE OF THE TAPE | |||||
| 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) | 61.7 (1) | 46.2 (7) | 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-Mountain View | 15-18 | 86.2 (9) | 86.3 (79) | 32.9 (75) | 36.5 (37) |
| x-Riverland (13) | 29-3 | 85.9 (10) | 67.3 (6) | 39.5 (33) | 29.0 (5) |
| x-Genesee (9) | 23-6 | 85.8 (12) | 72.3 (23) | 43.0 (15) | 37.7 (49) |
| x-Dallas-Richland (15) | 20-11 | 73.9 (57) | 65.2 (4) | 35.8 (64) | 29.5 (6) |
| x-Herkimer (2) | 23-4 | 80.9 (25) | 62.4 (3) | 41.1 (24) | 31.5 (13) |
JUCO DIVISION III TOURNAMENT
At Herkimer (N.Y.) College
March 12
No. 8 Northern Essex (28-3) vs. No. 9 Dallas Richland (20-11), noon
No. 5 Herkimer (23-4) vs. No. 12 Dallas-Mountain View (15-18), 2 p.m.
No 7 Riverland (29-3) vs. No. 10 Salem CC (23-7), 4 p.m.
No. 6 Union (23-4) vs. No. 11 Genesee (23-6), 6 p.m.
March 13
Northern Essex/Dallas Richland vs. No. 1 Duchess (26-1), 1 p.m.
Herkimer/DallasMountain View vs. No. 4 Sandhills (27-6), 3 p.m.
Salem-Riverland winner vs. No. 2 Mohawk Valley (26-1), 6 p.m.
Union-Genesee winner vs. No. 3 Minnesota State C&TC (29-2), 8 p.m.
Salem-Riverland loser vs. Union-Genesee loser, 11 a.m.
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
CARNEYS POINT – Mike Green remembers his first Selection Show when he played in college. The excitement and anticipation were real.
It was pretty much a given that year his Butler team was going to get an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The drama was where it would go, how high it would be seeded and who they were going to play in the first round.
When their name finally went up on the screen the players leapt out of their seats and the room erupted in cheers.
Green wanted that for his Salem CC basketball team Wednesday as they watched the selection show for the NJCAA Division III Tournament together for the first time. The Mighty Oaks knew they had a spot in the field as North Atlantic District B champions. All they were waiting to hear was their seed and road to the championship.
They didn’t have to wait long. The Mighty Oaks (23-7) were installed as the No. 10 seed and will open the tournament against seventh-seeded 13th-ranked Riverland (Minn.) CC (29-3) at Herikmer College Wednesday at 4 p.m.
When their name finally appeared on the screen, everybody who came to watch the show on three big-screen TVs in the fieldhouse cheered loudly.
“It was a one-in-a-lifetime thing because I’ve never experience this before,” freshman guard Xavier Brewington said. “I feel great for our team. I feel confident in our team. We’re going to try to win it all.”
Teams are guaranteed two games in the tournament. If the Mighty Oaks beat Riverland, they’ll play second-seeded No. 3 Mohawk Valley Thursday at 6. If they lose their opener, they’ll get the loser of Region XIX rival Union and Genesee CC at 11 a.m. They’ll keep playing as long as they keep winning, but they can only win the tournament from the winner’s bracket.
When it revealed the Mighty Oaks could get Mohawk Valley (26-1) in the second round, leading scorer Akeem Taylor didn’t flinch. “We want them,” he said from his seat on the floor. Mohawk Valley leads JUCO D-III in scoring defense.
“We want everybody,” Taylor said. “They’re just ranked so high, why wouldn’t we want to play them? We want to show that we’re the best, so that’s what we’ve got to go through.”
“It seems like he embraces being the underdog,” Green said.
As soon as the show ended, Green headed to his office to do some research on their opening-round opponent.
“I don’t know much about them,” he said. “I just know they’re a higher seed than us.
“We’re not familiar with any of these teams. We don’t watch them all year long; it’s not like the NCAA. You just don’t know. We’ve got to put work in and figure them out. We’ve got seven days to figure them out.”
Riverland was ranked No. 1 for 12 consecutive weeks earlier this season. The Blue Devils are led by Nazih Chehade, a 6-4 sophomore guard from Florida averaging 14.9 ppg, 7.3 rpg, shooting 58 percent from the field and has 127 assists.
ACORNS: Salem is one of two unranked teams in the 12-team field … The Mighty Oaks will leave for the tournament Monday, but won’t practice at the facility until Tuesday … Riverland has three scorers averaging in double figures.
Riverview Sports News 