BLUE DRAGONS EARN NJCAA TOURNAMENT AT-LARGE BID
reposted from HCC sports information
It didn’t take long on Sunday for the Hutchinson Community College men’s basketball team to learn the 2021 season isn’t over yet.
One day after falling in the Region VI Tournament championship game, the Blue Dragon players and coaches were together to watch the NJCAA Tournament Selection Show on Sunday evening at the Sports Arena. Hutchinson was the second team of 24 to pop up on the bracket as an at-large selection for the 2021 NJCAA Men’s Division I National Tournament, which begins on Monday, April 19 at the Sports Arena.
The 2021 Jayhawk West champion and Region VI Tournament runner-up Blue Dragons will take an 18-6 record into the tournament and drew the No. 16 overall seed.
The Blue Dragons will take on 17th-seeded Kilgore College (18-5), the Region XIV champion in the tournament’s first game at 10 a.m. on Monday April 19. The Hutchinson/Kilgore winner will take on the overall No. 1-seeded Mineral Area College Cardinals (23-0) at 2 p.m. on Tuesday in the opening game of the second round.
This will be the second meeting between Hutchinson and Kilgore in NJCAA Tournament history. The first was the 1958 NJCAA Tournament semifinals. Kilgore won that match-up, 83-78. This year’s opening-round matchup will be only fourth time the Blue Dragons and Rangers will play each other, the first time since January 3, 1995. The Dragons are 1-2 all-time against Kilgore.
The Blue Dragons will be making their 22nd overall NJCAA Tournament appearance, the first since 2018. The Blue Dragons have won three national championships in 1988, 1994 and 2017. Hutchinson has a 44-25 all-time NJCAA Tournament record.
Hutchinson will be making its sixth tournament appearance under head coach Steve Eck (2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021).
This is the fourth time the Dragons earned a tournament berth as an at-large team. The Blue Dragons were the 2016 NJCAA Tournament runner-up. The Blue Dragons defeated Eastern Florida State 84-58 to win the 2017 national championship.
Hutchinson is one of three Jayhawk Conference teams to earn spots in the 24-team field.
The Region VI champion Cowley Tigers are the No 8 overall seed. Cowley will play the Trinity Valley-Brunswick winner at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday in the second round.
The Coffeyville Red Ravens are the No. 10 overall seed. The Ravens, who lost to Hutchinson 76-75 in the Region VI Tournament semifinals, play Southwest Tennessee at 4:30 p.m. on Monday.
