No. 12 NIACC men begin tourney trek

MASON CITY - The No. 12 NIACC men's basketball team begins play Tuesday against Southwestern in the opening round of the NJCAA Region XI tournament.

NIACC (23-6 overall, 9-5 in ICCAC) enters the eight-team regional tournament as the fourth-seed. Southwestern (10-20, 4-10) is the tourney's fifth-seed.

Game time Tuesday is set for 7 p.m. in the NIACC gym.

NIACC swept Southwestern in their two regular season contests. The Trojans won 98-68 on Dec. 4 in Creston and also were victorious (94-76) on Feb. 29.

The winner of Tuesday's game faces either top-seed Kirkwood or eighth-seed Little Priest Tribal College at 7 p.m. Thursday. The highest remaining seed of the two quarterfinal winners hosts Thursday's semifinal contest.

NJCAA REGION XI TOURNAMENT

Tuesday's games - All games at 7 p.m.

(8) Little Priest Tribal College at (1) Kirkwood

(5) Southwestern at (4) NIACC

(6) Ellsworth at (3) Iowa Lakes

(7) Iowa Central at (2) DMACC

Note: Semifinals are set for 7 p.m. Thursday at the highest remaining seeds after the quarterfinal games. The championship game is slated for 3 p.m. on Saturday at the highest remaining seed.

NIACC'S STATISTICAL LEADERS

Scoring - Deundra Roberson 545 (21.0 ppg.), Quentin Hardrict 380 (17.4 ppg.), Wendell Matthews 476 (16.4 ppg.)

3-point goals - James Harris 41, Roberson 30, McKelary Robertson 20

Rebounds - Matthews 227, Trey Sampson 203, Chandler Dean 154

Assists - Hardrict 122, Harris 77, Roberson 76

Steals - Roberson 71, Matthews 54, Harris 35

Blocks - Sampson 53, Matthews 44, Dean 29.

SOUTHWESTERN'S STATISTICAL LEADERS

Scoring - James Kelley 530 (19.6 ppg.), Akeen Woods 366 (13.6 ppg.), Donzell Johnson 356 (12.7 ppg.)

3-point goals - Johnson 69, Sebastian Zehnder 54, Creshaun Brown 30

Rebounds - Kelley 202, Woods 167, Charles Johnson 87

Assists - Kelley 70, Woods 55, Charles Johson 47

Steals - Kelley 42, Charles Johnson 41, Woods 36

Blocks - Kelley 12, Woods 7.