NMJC (MBB) Region V Tournament Preview
The Thunderbird men's basketball team will compete as the No. 4 seed representing the WJCAC March 14-16 at the Region V Tournament in Weatherford, Texas. The T-Birds last won the Region V Tournament 11 years ago in 2013.
The Thunderbirds earn an automatic bid to Hutchinson with a Region V title. If NMJC does drop a game, they will have to sit and wait for an at-large bid to the national tournament in Kansas. The selection show is on the NJCAA Network Sunday, March 17 at 7 p.m. EST.
The T-Birds finished the WJCAC in a tie for fourth place with Midland at (9-7) in conference. NMJC's 2-0 head-to-head record broke the tie with Midland. The Thunderbirds finished fourth in the conference behind Clarendon College (11-5), Odessa College (11-5), and South Plains College (14-2).
The T-Birds went 12-18 in Year 1 of Coach Mackay's tenure. The Thunderbirds have flipped the script this year and won 10 more games and qualified for the postseason with a 22-8 (9-7) record.
The Thunderbirds are led by last year's WJCAC Freshman of the Year in Jeremiah Cherry. "Bear" Cherry, a sophomore center, averages 13 PPG, 5.9 RPG, and shoots a team-high 63.7% from the field. Freshman guard Deuce Benjamin is the spark plug off the bench for NMJC scoring 11.8 PPG. The New Mexico product leads the team with 62 3-pointers on the season. Sophomore guard Leo Torbor will make an impact on the court as well with averages of 12.5 PPG and 4 APG.
NMJC men's basketball head coach Luke Mackay knew that this season was going to be a competitive grind once they reached conference play. The Thunderbirds finished non-conference with a 13-1 record.
"It was always going to be close and come down to the last week or two of conference," Mackay said. "That's how good the league is, but I think what separated us from a lot of teams is the character of our guys. We have got really good people on this team. So, they stuck together the entire way."
The T-Birds dropped three-games in a row towards the latter part of conference and were needing a strong finish to make it to the postseason. NMJC went 4-1 in their last five games to earn the fourth and final spot in conference, which qualified them for the Region V Tournament.
"I think everybody kind of goes through that in this league (WJCAC)," Mackay said. "It's the best league in the country without question. So, you're going to hit hard patches. But again, it comes back to the character of our guys. They're really good guys who enjoy being around each other. They just kept their heads down, kept working, and stayed together and it worked out for us."
The Thunderbirds will play Collin College, the No. 1 seed out of the North, March 14 at 7 p.m. CDT in a rematch from earlier in the season. The T-Birds went to Collin and won 90-72 on Nov. 24.
"I think the challenge for our guys is to not look at that score and forget how hard of a game it really was," Mackay said. "It was a two-point game at halftime, and we got going there in the second half and the ball bounced our way. But if we think that we're just going to show up, put on a jersey on and beat them again, we're mistaken."
Coach Mackay gave props to a Collin team that is led by one of the longest tenured coaches in all of junior college.
"Collin College is an extremely talented team, and they are coached by one of the best coaches in junior college basketball. He's been doing this longer than all of our guys have been alive," Mackay said. "Coach Sigona is going to have his team ready, and their guys are going to be ready for a little bit of revenge."
Mackay said the key to playing Collin is locking down the Cougars from beyond the arc and using the Thunderbirds size to create mismatches.
"I think we've got to make sure that we use our physical tools. Collin is an extremely skilled team. They shoot over 30 threes a game as a team," Mackay said. "So, we got to make sure that we're ready to come out there and compete and play hard. And if we do that, then our physical tools should be able to get us across the line and have us winning. I think we're bigger and more athletic than they are. So, we got to make sure we come ready to play."
NMJC 22-8 (9-7) will play Collin College 24-6 (11-3) in the first round of the Region V tournament Thursday, March 14 at 7 p.m. CDT at Weatherford College.
Click here to watch the stream for Thursday's game.
Tournament passes are $25 each, and day passes are $10 or $8 for senior citizens or students. Passes for the games can be purchased in advance online at weatherfordcollege.simpletix.com.
