A terrific season for the NCMC men's basketball program came to a close on Thursday when they took an 85-83 loss to South Suburban College in the consolation bracket of the NJCAA DII National Championship Tournament.  With the defeat, NCMC's season record ends at 17-8.

Leading the Pirates yet again is scoring was sophomore Atavian Butler with 18 points.  Fellow sophomores Jeramy Shaw and Camron Donatlan each added 16 points in the losing effort. 

South Suburban was led by Deshanwdre Washington with a game high 36 points.  Washington was the nation's leading scorer going into the tournament, averaging 26.8 points per game.

NCMC Head Coach Jeremy Esry had these comments about his team's trip to the national tournament.  "This was not the outcome that we wanted or expected in Danville but there are not too many teams in the country who get to end their season on a good note.  This team was a joy to coach every day and was probably the most fun to watch grow that I have been a part of here at NCMC.  I'm super proud of how they handled themselves every day in practice and in games and I'm glad that it paid off for them by earning a spot at the national tournament."