MACC GREYHOUNDS CAPTURE REGION 16 CHAMPIONSHIP

Defeat #6 ranked Mineral Area 75-71 on road

The Moberly Area Community College Men's Basketball Team captured the NJCAA Region 16 Men's Basketball Championship on Saturday, March 9 with a 75-71 victory on the road over Mineral Area College. The Greyhounds jumped out to a 9-1 early lead over the #6 ranked Mineral Area squad and never trailed in the contest while holding a 36-30 halftime lead. Mineral would pull within one point but MACC answered every time and eventually grabbed a 71-58 lead with three minutes remaining. Moberly was tremendously aided by hitting their first 24 free throws and winning the board battle. The Hounds were lead in scoring by 6'8" forward Cameron Williams with 14 points and 9 rebounds, Freddie Cooper also had 14 points, Xavier Sykes added 13 points and 5 assists, while Nelson Reynolds and Tekao Carpenter scored 10 points each in their balanced attack. Sophomore wing Akili Evans added 9 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists.

In the Semi-finals of the Region against State Fair, Moberly jumped out to a 49-26 halftime lead and coasted to a 94-71 victory. Moberly was lead in scoring by Nelson Reynolds with 24 points (6-9 from three point range), Cooper scored 19 points, Cameron Williams scored 13 points with 7 rebounds while Javrius Moye added 12 points.

"Just a tremendous accomplishment by a team that has had to continually evolve throughout the season," said Coach Patrick Smith, "We've had lots of changes to make, players in and out of the line up, role adjustments and having to overcome adversity. I do not compare championships because it's so hard to win games and especially championships; however, this Regional Championship is especially nice considering how good Mineral Area is and the fact we had to go on the road to get it done. Very grateful to our players, colleges and fans for the work to make this accomplishment happen. Now it's onto a very good Triton team in Chicago for the Midwest District Championship."

Moberly improved to 25-7 on the season (8th straight full season of 25 or more victories) while winning their 5th Regional Championship in the last 6 seasons. They will now play Triton College at 3 pm Saturday, March 16 at Triton in Chicago, Illinois for the Midwest District Championship and the automatic bid to the NJCAA National Tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas.