WEST GEORGIA TECH TO PLAY DEFENDING NATIONAL CHAMPIONS IN DISTRICT 7 SEMIFINALS FRIDAY NIGHT
CARROLLTON, Ga. – Pairings were announced late Sunday for the upcoming NJCAA Division III District 7 Men’s Basketball Tournament which will be held this Friday and Saturday in Wentworth, N.C., and the West Georgia Tech Golden Knights drew the No. 4 seed and a matchup against the top-seeded and No. 9-ranked Sandhills Community College Flyers (Pinehurst, N.C.).
West Georgia Tech (17-15) and Sandhills (25-6) will meet in the nightcap on Friday at 7:30 p.m. The other semifinal matchup will feature No. 2-seed Anne Arundel Community College against No. 3-seed Caldwell Tech at 5 p.m.
The two winners will play in the championship game at 3 p.m. on Saturday, with the winner of that game advancing to the NJCAA Men’s Basketball Division III National Championship Tourmanent.
Sandhills is the defending national champion and was ranked No. 1 in the preseason.
“I'm excited about the opportunity we have in front of us,” said WGTC head coach Niki Okolovitch. “We are building our program to compete on a higher level every year, and these are the teams we need to play against to see how we match up on a national level and help build our reputation. We play an intense schedule, so our kids have been on the floor with this kind of competition and have proven themselves against it.”
The District 7 Tournament will be held at Rockingham Community College in Wentworth, N.C., the same location as last year’s event which saw West Georgia Tech drop an 89-87 decision to Prince George’s (Md.) Community College in the semifinal round.
West Georgia Tech, Sandhills and Anne Arundel are each making return trips to the District 7 Tournament after appearing in last year’s event. Sandhills defeated Anne Arundel 88-82 in the semifinal round last year before knocking off Prince George’s en route to their national championship.
West Georgia Tech advanced to the District 7 Tournament this year after winning three games in three days to win the Region 17 Tournament for the second-straight year.
On Sunday Sandhills won the Region 10 Tournament with a buzzer-beater with .08 seconds on the clock to defeat Caldwell Tech, the District 7 Tournament No. 3-seed.
Sandhills features the most explosive offense in the country, averaging a 100.7 points per game. The Flyers have scored at least 100 points in 16 of its 30 games, and scored 120 or more points four times.
The Flyers allowed just 57.9 points per game defensively.
West Georgia Tech is 15th in the country in points scored, averaging 79.1 points per contest.
DISTRICT 7 TOURNAMENT
Rockingham Community College, Wentworth NC
Friday, March 8
5:00 2. Anne Arundel C.C. vs. 3. Caldwell Tech
7:30 1. Sandhills C.C. vs. West Georgia Tech
Saturday, March 9
3:00 Championship Game