John A Logan College first to claim District Championship
Carterville, IL – April 9, 2021
John A. Logan College has captured its second straight Central District Championship and automatic berth in the NJCAA National Tournament, April 19-24 at the Sports Arena in Hutchinson, KS.
The Volunteers held on to beat rival Vincennes University, the defending national champions, 77-68. The Trailblazers won it all in 2019 and the tournament was cancelled last year due to covid. Logan, a team struggling at the end of the regular season losing two of their last three, found their groove once the postseason began. Entering the tourney as the #1 Seed, and ranked #12 in the latest NJCAA poll, the Vols dismantled Lake Land College 104-76 in the quarterfinals, Wabash Valley College 83-43 in the Semifinals, before taking down the Trailblazers.
Playing at home, JAL raced out to a 39-26 lead at the intermission, but once VU settled in, they matched the Vols punch for punch, and actually outscored the hosts 42-38 in the second half. The tournament is usaually played on a neutral court at Rend Lake College, went to the higher seed host format due to covid concerns.
Logan was led by Xavier Ball, tossing in a game high 28 points. His 5 three pointers in the first half helped the Vols to their 13 point halftime advantage. Ball was named Tournament MVP. Sydney Curry was also in double figures with 13.
With the win, JAL moves to 18-4 and awaits the NJCAA selection show on Sunday at 7:00 PM EDT to find out their seed and opponent. You can watch the announcements on NJCAATV. The top eight seeds receive first round byes.
Vincennes, who was ranked #20 in the final poll, falls to 17-6. They too will wait for the selection committee announcement hoping to receive one of the eight At-large bids to the big dance in Hutch. Nigel Martin came off the bench to lead the Blazers with 22 points. DJ Brewton added 17 while Christian Wells tossed in 11 in a reserve roll.
