NJCAA REGION XII DIII CHAMPIONS! Commodores Defeat Owens 79-66; Advance to The Great Lakes District Championship on March 4

February 22, 2023 - - For the second season in a row, the Commodores of Lorain County Community College are the NJCAA Region XII Division III Men's Basketball Champions.  LCCC dismantled the Express of Owens Community College, 79-66, with an amazing show of strength after falling to them just seven days ago in Perrysburg, 75-71.

"We had no doubts coming into this week," said Head Coach Marty Eggleston, who celebrated his third NJCAA Region XII title along with his third Region XII Coach of the Year Award with the Commodores (12-17, 5-11). "We got back to knowing what we are capable of.  We got rattled a little bit, got healthy, got back in the gym, and rebooted."

The Commodores repeat as the region champions (winning last season by default due to Owens not fielding a team) for this season's group of sophomores and assistant coach Brandon Lawler is a special one.

"The last time we played the regional championship game on this court," said Eggleston, "Coach B was in the game (as a player).  To come full circle, it got emotional for me because every one of these guys are like my son and I'm so proud of them."

Owens (7-18, 4-13) got the first basket of the game but the Commodores controlled things for the rest of the way, scoring the next 15 points and ballooning their lead to 23 before going into the half with a 19 point lead, 47-28. 

The second half shakes had plagued the Commodores for much of the season and Owens looked as though they were ready to be the next culprit.  With just over eight minutes left in the contest, the Express' Jaden Owens (Troy, Ohio) sank a three point basket to pull them to within eight points, 55-63.

LCCC would persevere and score the next nine points capped off by Casey Kelley's (Amherst, Ohio/Firelands HS) and-one basket with just under four minutes to play. 

Prior to that, All-Tournament MVP Lem Payne (Philadelphia, Pa./Mount Pleasant HS) and Jayden Roberts (Wellington, Ohio/Wellington HS) sank four straight free throws and Quante May (Cleveland, Ohio/Horizon Science Academy) got a lay up to give the Commodores some breathing room.  Along with Payne, Roberts and May both made the Region XII DIII All-Tournament team.

Roberts scored 20 points on 7-for-13 shooting, had seven rebounds, and three steals.  Payne made his final game inside the Ewing Activities Center a memorable one finishing with 16 points but stuffed the stat sheet with six rebounds, eight assists, and five steals. May nearly got a double-double with ten points, nine rebounds, two steals, and a block. 

Freshman Brandon Fisher (Strongsville, Ohio/Columbia HS) scored 14 points and hit four 3-point baskets.

Rounding out the rest of the All-Tournament team were Deveyous Terrell and Amir Dallas of Owens Community College.  Terrell scored 16 points while Dallas chipped in 14.

LCCC will play their next contest on March 4, 2023 against the champion from the NJCAA Region IV in the NJCAA Great Lakes District Championship.  That four-team tournament will take place this weekend between No. 1 Seeded Madison College, No. 2 College of DuPage, No. 3 Joliet Junior College, and No. 4 Harper College.