12th ranked Pirates basketball punched their ticket to the NJCAA Men's Basketball National Championship Tournament Saturday when the defeated a tough 13th ranked Spoon River College team 90-81. This is the third straight year the Pirates have won a NJCAA District Championship. NCMC will learn where they get seeded following Monday's livestreamed Selection Show. You can watch that at 11:30am at https://www.njcaa.org/network.
The Pirates were led in their NJCAA Central B Championship victory by sophomore stars Jeramy Shaw and Atavian Butler. Shaw poured in 26 points on 11-17 shooting, including four made 3's. Butler's 23 points came on 9-15 shooting. Complementing the two playmakers was sharpshooter Jackson Andrews who totaled 17 points with 15 coming from beyond the arc.
The national tournament will run from April 20-24 in Danville, IL. To keep up on all the NJCAA DII Men's Basketball Championship news, go to https://www.njcaa.org/championships/sports/mbkb/div2/index.