The Central Community College men's basketball team is the #15 seed in the 2022-23 NJCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship.
The Raiders will take on the #2-seed Niagara County (N.Y.) Community College at 3 p.m. on Tuesday.
"It's been a long time since CCC has made it to the national tournament and it's been a goal for these guys for the last year," said CCC head coach John Ritzdorf. "For the guys who have been in the program for two or three years, their experience is culminating in the right way."
The Thunderwolves are 29-1 following a 63-54 victory over Sullivan Community College in the East A/B District Championship on March 4. Winners of the Region 3 title, NCCC's only loss was on Jan. 3 and has since won 14 straight. The Thunderwolves are led in scoring by Lamar Lovelace, who averages 14.8 points while Allen Fordham is right behind at 12.9 points. Rounding out the double-digit scorers is Aaron Miller, who averages 11.1 points and a team best 6.9 rebounds. NCCC is led by Bill Beilein, who is in his 14th year as head coach.
"They look really impressive with one loss on the year, and they've beaten some good teams," Ritzdorf said.
The Raiders are in the national tournament for the first time since 2014. CCC is 22-9 following Saturday's 73-70 win over Dakota County Technical College in the North District title game. The Region 9 champs are led by Trey Deveaux's 18.9 points while Derek Merwick is the second-leading scorer with 12.7 points. Merwick is the leading rebounder with 7.2 boards per outing. Jayden Byabato is CCC's third-leading scorer with 11.2 points. The Raiders have won six consecutive games.
The 16-team national tournament will be played for the 30th straight year in Danville, Ill., March 21-25.