No. 6 North Lake Awaits National Quarterfinal Matchup Next Thursday
NJCAA DIII TOURNAMENT CENTRAL | BRACKET | SELECTION SHOW | WATCH PARTY
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Dallas College North Lake men's basketball team earned a first round bye in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III Tournament in Herkimer, New York.
The Blazers will meet the winner of Montgomery County Community College (Pa.) and Ridgewater College (Minn.) in the quarterfinals 7 p.m. CT next Thursday.
The tournament runs through March 14 at Herkimer College. Games will be live streamed on the NJCAA Network, and Live Stats are available.
It is North Lake's third trip to the NJCAA Division III Tournament in the last four years and the 10th appearance in program history. The Blazers own an NJCAA-most five national titles, the most recent in 2023-24.
The sixth-ranked Blazers are one of three Dallas Athletic Conference teams headed to Herkimer. It is the first time in league history the DAC will send three teams to the NJCAA Division III Tournament. No. 3 Dallas College Eastfield (20-9) and No. 4 Dallas College Richland (20-9) both earned at-large bids.
North Lake (22-10) beat Dallas College Brookhaven 101-79 in Saturday's NJCAA Division III South Central District championship.
Five Blazers are scoring in double figures. Freshman forward Romiel Carter leads the Blazers in scoring (15.3 points per game), rebounding (7.9), steals (1.8) and blocks (0.8). Freshman guard Zach Thompson is averaging 13.1 points and 5.2 rebounds. Freshman forward Zaedyn Owens is averaging 10.8 points and 4.8 rebounds. Sophomore guard Santana Spivey is scoring 10.6 points and shooting 82.4 percent from the free throw line. Freshman forward Jordan Edwards is averaging 10.3 points and 5.8 rebounds.
Eighth-ranked Montgomery County (21-4) is coming off a 58-55 win over Salem Community College in the North Atlantic A District championship Saturday. The Mustangs are riding a seven-game winning streak. Ranked 10th, Ridgewater (22-6) is coming off a 90-82 loss to Riverland Community College (Minn.) in the North Plains District championship.
Montgomery County's Tariq Jennings is averaging 11.8 points and 6.3 rebounds, and shooting 50.8 percent from the floor. Matthew Williams is averaging 11.6 points and 5.6 rebounds, while hitting 45 percent of his field goals. Brandon Bush is scoring 9.7 points, Qudire Bennett 9.6 points and Alantay Dawson nine points.
Ridgewater's Tyrese Mayo is averaging 22.1 points, 4.4 assists and 4.6 rebounds. DeAndre Holloway is averaging 22.1 points and 10.6 rebounds. Brenton McKinney is averaging 11.8 points and 4.7 rebounds.
North Lake has won its last five games, and own a 3-1 neutral site record this season.