DMACC Takes Third In Attempt to Defend Title
DANVILLE, Ill. - The Des Moines Area Community College Men's Basketball team finished in third place at the NJCAA Division II National Tournament last week.
The Bears (28-8) entered the tournament as reigning Division II champions and placed as the fourth seed. They began their title defense against Parkland (Ill.), winning 76-59. Leading the Bears was Jadan Graves scoring 21 points and adding six rebounds.
In the quarterfinals DMACC faced Milwaukee Area Tech (Wisc.) and marched right past the Stormers. DMACC won by 15 points. Gonar Biliew led the team in scoring and blocks, after scoring 23 points while only missing one shot from the field and one shot from the line. He blocked two shots and added seven rebounds.
The Bears then took on the No. 1 seed South Suburban (Ill.). DMACC stayed in the game in the first half, entering halftime down by two points. In the second half, South Suburban extended their lead out of reach for DMACC. Shots weren't falling for DMACC since they shot 34% from the field, and 33% from three point range. South Suburban's guard Camron Donatlan poured 30 points on the Bears to end their title defense.
DMACC moved to the 3rd place game against Sullivan County (N.Y). DMACC had five players score 10 points or more and Graves was the leading scorer after hitting 6 of 8 shots for 15 points.
Graves earned a spot in the All-Tournament team after scoring 15.3 point per game on 49% shooting, along with 5.8 rebounds per game and 2.5 assists per game.
3rd Place Game - #4 DMACC def. #3 Sullivan County 87-76 - Box Score
Semifinals - #1 South Suburban def. DMACC 69-57 - Box Score
Quarterfinals - #4 DMACC def. #5 Milwaukee Area Tech 85-70 - Box Score
First Round - #4 DMACC def. #13 Parkland 76-59 - Box Score