Lamar State prepares for national championship quest

[LamarStatesports]

The Lamar State College-Port Arthur men’s basketball team climbed a huge hill last week in Tyler, where they started as the seventh seed and won the Region XIV championship after defeating three nationally-ranked teams, capped by a 72-67 victory over No. 4 San Jacinto College.

The 25-9 Seahawks now are preparing to climb an even higher hill as they prepare to face the 28-4 Monroe College Mustangs from Bronx, New York, next Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the opening round of the National Junior College Athletic Association’s Division I Championship Tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas.

The NJCAA tournament is a two-loss elimination event (www.njcaabbtrny.org/pdfs/bracket_2011.pdf) featuring 16 teams.

This year’s field includes eight teams that were ranked in the Top 36 in the final NJCAA weekly poll – No. 1 Missouri State University-West Plains, No. 2 College of Southern Idaho, No. 3 Midland College (TX), No. 6 Coffeyville Community College (KS), No. 10 Wabash Valley Community College (IL), No. 12 East Mississippi Community College, No. 19 Monroe College and No. 35 Cape Fear Community College (NC).

Monroe College has a well-established basketball program with a .726 winning percentage over the past 10 years. Over the same time period, the Mustangs won four Region XV championships and finished seventh in last year’s NJCAA tournament.

Monroe went undefeated in Region XV play for the second straight year.

The Mustangs’ last loss was a Dec. 12 non-conference game. They closed the season with 15 straight wins, followed by three post-season victories, capped by a 79-78 overtime contest with Hagerstown Community College to earn the tournament berth.

Monroe’s leading scorer, Jeff Early, was the Region XV Player of the Year. Coach Jeff Brustad was the Coach of the Year.

Lamar State head coach Matt Cross said Monroe will provide a tough test for his team.

“They are extremely athletic. The guards are really quick, and the inside players are very good. But we’ve already seen teams this year that were comparable, especially in our conference, which is one of the toughest in the country,” Cross said. “Everyone’s equal when the game begins. We’re ready for Tuesday’s tipoff and plan to come home with a national championship.”

NJCAA will provide live and archived video of each game at www.njcaa.org/tv and www.psblive.com.