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.

Salem CC wins district basketball title, headed to JUCO Division III nationals for first time in school history; Taylor named tournament MVP

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News 

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — The Salem CC basketball team has been a second-half club all season long. So why should things be any different in its biggest game in school history.

The Mighty Oaks already had a six-point lead when they went into halftime Saturday, then they opened the second on a 12-0 run to take complete control of their Region XIX North Atlantic District B championship game on the way to a 74-66 win over second-seeded Montgomery County CC to earn their first ever trip to the JUCO national Tournament.

“It’s a great feeling, a feeling I’ve never felt before,” freshman swingman Tamir Powell said. “I’ve never won anything in high school, ever before. This is my first championship. It feels great.”

Now they’re headed to Herikmer (N.Y.) College to play for the Division III national title March 11-15. EIght district champions and four at-large selections will make up the field. The bracket will be announced at 3 p.m. Wednesday.

Union (Region XIX/North Atlantic A) and Dallas College-Mountain View (South Central) also have locked up tournament bids. The remaining automatic bids should be filled Sunday.

“It feels good just to give these guys another chance to get looked at, to get seen,” Mighty Oaks coach Mike Green said. “I told them all year long the nationals is where you want to be. You’ll have a bunch of coaches there and they only want winners, man, and we’re a winner, so I’m just happy I got a chance to deliver on my promise.

“They (Montco) were the defending champs and we came in and took care of business.” 

And it wasn’t that close.

It’s not so much that the Mighty Oaks (23-7) pulled away in the second half to win their first district title – they only outscored the Mustangs 40-38 – but rather the way they did it and the smoothness with which they maintained the lead.

The run out in the first four minutes of the second half gave them an 18-point lead that never fell back into single digits until the final two minutes.

“It was all motivation,” Powell said. “We took what we had the last game and we brought the energy, we brought the fight and the grit. We knew we were the better team so we went out and played like it.”

Sophomore Akeem Taylor, who wasn’t even considered for the All-Region XIX Team because he joined the team at mid-season, was clearly the difference in the game. He went for 27 points, 13 rebounds and three blocked shots and was named MVP of the District B tournament, basically the Mighty Oaks’ half of the Region XIX bracket.

He had 18 points, four rebounds and six assists in the Might Oaks’ tournament opening win at CC of Philadelphia. Both teams they took down in the tournament beat them in one-possession games during the regular season.

“I feel like the last time they got us because of me,” Taylor said. “I think I went out in the first half with three fouls. I wasn’t playing at 100 percent. It was just all about revenge. That’s what I think motivated me today. There was a lot of extra motivation.”

Green, who orchestrated the best turnaround in the league in his first full season at the helm, was named District Coach of the Year as the coach of Saturday’s winning team.

Powell started the Mighty Oaks’ second-half run with a bucket and 3-pointer. He had 11 points in the half and finished with 19; he’s been averaging 15 over his last five games. Xavier Brewington had 10 points and Jyheim Spencer had another double-double (11/10).

Montco had three scorers in double figures but none of its other four scorers had more than five points.

“Our bench played well; that’s the difference,” Green said. “That’s why everybody says why do you play 12 players – because you can wear teams down.

“They had a short bench. Our bench came and gave us minutes and gave our starters a rest and when they got in they were much stronger. It worked out how we planned it, man.”

And now they’re making plans for an even bigger tournament.

SALEM CC 74, MONTGOMERY COUNTY CC 66
SALEM CC (23-7) – Tamir Powell 7-12 1-1 19, Tyrese Fortune 1-8 1-2 3, Xavier Brewington 2-8 6-11 10, Akeem Taylor 8-18 11-12 27, Jyheim Spencer 5-6 1-2 11, Dontarius Jones 1-2 0-0 2, A.J. Jones 1-1 0-1 2, Tivon Woolford 0-0 0-0 0, Josh Ramos 0-2 0-0 0, Rodney Shelton 0-2 0-0 0, Tajee Jordan 0-1 0-0 0, Stefan Phillips 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-60 20-29 74.
MONTGOMERY CO. (21-6) – Matthew Williams 6-14 6-9 18, Sean Emfinger 9-18 3-4 22, Baasil Sanders 5-14 5-7 16, Jaylon Williams 1-3 2-2 5, John Dinolfi 0-5 2-3 2, Jonathan Brooks 0-0 1-2 1, Steven Hill 0-2 0-0 0, Darrius Gaeta 0-7 0-0 0, Emmanuel Rodriguez 0-2 0-0 0, Isaac Martin 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 22-66 19-27 66.

Salem CC	34	40-	74
Montgomery County CC	28	38-	66

Despite their powerful stats, Salem CC’s Taylor and Spencer left off the All-Region 19 Division III Teams

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CARNEYS POINT – Mike Green will stand up for his guys as high as the day is long, but when the results of this year’s Region XIX All-Division III basketball team crossed his field of view he just couldn’t stand still.

Green’s improved Salem CC team has two of the more dynamic players in the entire region let alone Division III – 6-4 sophomore guard Akeem Taylor and 6-8 freshman post Jyheim Spencer – but when the region’s “All” teams crossed the coach’s clipboard Thursday neither were on any of the three teams. It was presumably because they became eligible at mid-year and didn’t meet the criteria of playing in at least 80 percent of their teams games.

They certainly played in 80 percent of the 14 regular-season games for which they were eligible after being activated Jan. 7. Spencer played in them all and Taylor missed two (86 percent). They both played in Wednesday’s post-season win at CC of Philadelphia.

You can’t argue with their impact or production. Green said the whole first month of the season the Mighty Oaks would be a different team when they joined the lineup and they have been. Salem is 12-3 since they started playing.

Taylor would have been among the Division III leaders in scoring (20.8 ppg) and was undoubtedly the straw the stirred the Mighty Oaks’ drink. Spencer averages a double-double (13.3 ppg/14.3 rpg) and would be the second-leading rebounder in Division III nationally and sixth in blocked shots (42/2.8 per game) had he played enough games to qualify. He already has one Division I offer.

When they first handed Green the all-star list the second-year coach looked to see what he already suspected and threw the paper in the trash. One of his assistants pulled it back and he glanced again to make sure he hadn’t overlooked anything in haste and then tossed it back in again.

The Division III MVP was Sean Emfinger of Montgomery, who the Mighty Oaks will face in Saturday’s North Atlantic District B championship game at Northampton. Green was fine with that call. Emfinger averaged 20.2 ppg (22.1 in conference games) and 8.3 rebounds with 124 assists and 60 steals. He put 19 and 12 on the Mighty Oaks when they played Feb. 4.

Green called the type of season his two players had “amazing years, first-team all-conference type years, an All-American type of year.”

Spencer did get placed on the ballot for second team from what Green was told. Alas, there will be none of that.

“With the way things go around this league I’m never surprised,” Green said. “It’s kind of a fraternity I haven’t gotten in yet. It’s just my first full year.

“Hopefully these guys aren’t penalizing my players because of who they think I am, because they don’t know me. I don’t hardly even know these guys. Hopefully they don’t think the success I had has anything to do with these kids. They’re not playing against me. I kind of get a feeling these guys think they’re beating me, Mike Green, instead of Salem from the way these guys are celebrating after the game.”

The snubs do add fuel to another interesting debate – is Green a viable Coach of the Year candidate? After all, his team put together a record-breaking season with 22 wins (so far), a region-best 8.5-game overall turnaround (11 in the win column) and a spot in the district title game – all without one all-region player.

“The way things are going you’d think it would be me, right?,” he said, not that he’s worried about it. “What they’re telling me is we don’t have a top 15 player in the league, so how are we in the championship game? So, I should be Coach of the Year just on that, but there are a lot of coaches in the league doing a great job. That could go either way.”

If the snub is bothering the two Mighty Oaks stars, they don’t seem to be letting on.

“They’re mature,” Green said. “They’ve got bigger fish to fry. They’ve got a championship (to pursue) and they’re getting recruiting. They’ll get a last laugh.”

Photo by John Holt

Spencer stars as Salem CC moves within a Saturday win of a trip to the national tournament after beating CC of Philadelphia on the road

REGION XIX TOURNAMENT
DIVISION III MEN
WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
Salem CC 83, Philadelphia 70
Montgomery 83, Brookdale 64
Union 87, Atlantic Cape 84
Northampton 83, Camden 66
SATURDAY’S GAMES
(At Northampton)
Northampton (23-5) vs. Union (22-4), noon
Salem CC (22-7) vs. Montgomery (21-5), 3 p.m.

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PHILADELPHIA – Jyheim Spencer wasn’t in a seat when the Salem CC basketball team pulled out of the Dupont Fieldhouse parking lot for its Region XIX playoff opener Wednesday night, but by the middle of the second half he was driving the bus.

The 6-foot-8 freshman post they call “Six,” whose story of redemption has been well-documented and admired by many of the college recruiters who have seen it, was as beastly as he’s been all season. “Dominant” is how coach Mike Green described him.

Spencer had another double-double with 18 points and 19 rebounds – his ninth in 15 games – plus six blocked shots and four steals, as the Mighty Oaks bounced third-seeded CC of Philadelphia 83-70 to reach the JUCO Division III North Atlantic District B finals Saturday at Northampton.

The sixth-seeded Mighty Oaks (22-7) will play second-seeded No. 13 Montgomery County CC at 3 p.m. with a trip to the Division III national tournament in Herkimer, N.Y., March 12-15 in the balance. With the region receiving two automatic bids to the nationals, the region tournament was split into two districts crowning two champions. 

“I just had to play like today was my last game,” Spencer said. “Just play every play hard, don’t take any off; just play like it’s the last game.

“For me, this is very big because I got another chance. Not only do I get another chance, I’m in the playoffs now. I never even thought I was going to be able to play again, now I’m in the playoffs. It just felt like the first game all over again. First playoff game, got to set the tone.”

Spencer, who was already in Philly and met the team upon its arrival at the CCP gym, made his presence felt all game, but he was especially impactful in the second half and particularly the final 12 minutes.

Akeem Taylor hit two free throws to give Salem a seven-point lead, then Spencer went on a tear. He converted a sharp entry pass from Taylor into a dunk and then after hurting his left ankle fouling a guy made a put back and another basket to push the lead to 14.

Later in the quarter he picked a CCP player’s pocket coming out of the backcourt and finished that off with a dunk to make it 68-54 with 6:17 to play. The Lions (20-8) got within six with 1:30 to go before looking for someone to foul and Fortune closed them out at the line.

“That’s the way he’s supposed be for us all year long,” Green said of Spencer. “When he’s not that, we struggled, so when he is that, we’re a force to be reckoned with.

“He was a dog. He was a beast. That’s what we needed. That’s what he needs to be for us to go where we need to go.”

All three of the Mighty Oaks’ Jan. 7 newcomers played major roles in the program’s first playoff victory in three years. In addition to Spencer, Taylor had 18 points and six assists, and Tamir Powell had 14 points. Tyrese Fortune, who has been there from the beginning but only recently started spreading his wings, also scored 18 points and went 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the final 40 seconds to close it out.

The Mighty Oaks are 12-3 since adding those players to their roster in the second semester.

“He played great,” Taylor said of Spencer. “He grabbed all the rebounds we needed. He did everything we needed. I feel like everybody played well today. We could have gotten 50-50 balls more, but besides that everything was good.”

The Mighty Oaks lost to CCP earlier this season in a game they readily admit they didn’t play well. They had more turnovers than made shots in that one – a season-high 22 turnovers to 21 field goals – but on this night they were more focused and had only seven. They also made more shots.

“We came in this expecting to win,” Taylor said. “Last game we didn’t really play so well. I think we had more turnovers than made shots. We came into this one confident.”

And they left victorious.

ACORNS: The Mighty Oaks are 8-5 away from Dupont this season. One of those losses was to Montco, 74-72 on Feb. 4, in which they had a shot at the end but messed up their spacing and got the shot blocked … Several of the Mighty Oaks continue to get four-year offers, but only one has made a pledge. Rodney Shelton has committed to Harris-Stowe, an NAIA HBCU in St. Louis, Green said … Taylor is weighing several options – he recently return from visits to Harris-Stowe and Northwestern Ohio – and hinted a commitment could be coming in March.

SALEM CC 83, PHILADELPHIA 70
SALEM CC (22-7) – Akeem Taylor 6-12 6-10 18, Tyrese Fortune 4-10 9-13 18, Jyheim Spencer 9-12 0-1 18, Tamir Powell 4-8 5-8 14, Xavier Brewington 2-5 2-5 7, Josh Ramos 1-2 0-0 3, A.J. Jones 1-1 0-0 2, Tivon Woolford 1-1 0-0 2, Dontarius Jones 0-1 1-2 1, Rodney Shelton 0-1 0-2 0, Tajee Jordan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-53 23-41
PHILADELPHIA (20-8) – Regjon Knight 11-29 5-7 29, Malachi Montgomery 1-16 2-6 4, Maki Pettigrew 4-19 0-0 9, Brince Shelton 4-16 3-7 12, Tahjir Davis 5-10 0-0 10, Saleem Henderson 1-1 0-0 2, Devon Stanley 2-3 0-1 4, Dontae Bacon 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-95 10-21 70.

Salem CC	42	41-	83
Philadelphia	34	36-	70

Here’s a statistical comparison for Wednesday’s Region XIX playoff game between Salem CC and CC of Philadelphia

SALEM CC at PHILADELPHIA, 6 P.M.	SCC (RK)	CCP (RK)
RECORD (SEED)	21-7 (6)	20-7 (3)
FIRST MEETING (Jan. 28)	59	62
POINTS PER GAME	87.2 (7)	84.1 (19)
POINTS ALLOWED	72.7 (26)	72.6 (24)
FG MADE	31.6 (19)	32.0 (15)
FG ATTEMPTS	73.3 (3)	73.0 (4)
SHOOTING PCT.	43.1 (50)	43.9 (39)
3-PT MADE	8.8 (3)	6.8 (37)
3-PT ATTEMPTS	31.7 (36)	19.9 (46)
FT PCT.	69.9 (12)	66.9 (33)
REBOUNDS	43.8 (13)	46.2 (8)
OPPONENT REBOUNDING	38.3 (52)	26.6 (2)

Top Scorers

SALEM CC	PPG	PHILADELPHIA	PPG
Akeem Taylor	21.0	Regjon Knight	21.8
Jyheim Spencer	12.9	Brince Shelton	15.0
Tyrese Fortune	11.4	Malachi Montgomery	14.8
Xavier Brewington	10.9	Kristion Tiller	11.4
Tamir Powell	10.0	Maki Pettigrew	10.6

Top Rebounders

SALEM CC	RPG	PHILADELPHIA	PPG
Jyheim Spencer	14.0	Tahjir Davis	10.3
Rodney Shelton	6.9	Aymere Thomas	9.8
Tyrese Fortune	6.8	Brince Shelton	6.5
Xavier Brewington	5.1	Regjon Knight	5.7
Akeem Taylor	4.8	Malachi Montgomery	5.3

FREE THROWS — Salem: Stefan Phillips, 45-51, .882; Tivon Woolford, 13-17, .765; Akeem Taylor, 44-50, .759; Xavier Brewington, 60-80, .750; Tamir Powell, 20-27, .741; Tyrese Fortune, 61-87, .701. CCP: Kristion Tiller, 32-40, .800; Regjon Knight, 55-69, .797; Donte Bacon, 11-14, .786; Brince Shelton, 79-111, .712.

3-POINTERS — Salem: Josh Ramos, 71-194, .366; Tamir Powell, 20-60, .333; Tivon Woolford, 20-64, .313; Akeem Taylor, 10-32, .313; Xavier Brewington, 39-126, .310; Tyrese Fortune, 22-97, .227. CCP: Regjon Knight, 49-144, .340; Malachi Montgomery, 41-117, .350; Kristion Tiller, 40-109, .367; Maki Pettigrew, 30-99, .303.