The Salt Lake Community College men’s basketball team earned a first round NJCAA National Championship win on Tuesday, Mar. 19, with an 86-82 victory over Eastern Oklahoma State College.
SLCC owned the first half, in large part to sixth man JuWan Buchanan, who scored 14 points off the bench to help the Bruins take a 9 point lead into halftime. The relentless Mountaineers of Eastern Oklahoma State battled back, attacking the lead and forcing the Bruins to either lie down and give up or fight back and take over the game.
The Bruins were up to the challenge as they put together a string of highlight plays led by freshman Gary Payton II and sophomore Sai Tummala to extend their lead.
Payton threw down two phenomenal dunks to ignite the Bruins second half effort to close out the Mountaineers.
SLCC’s hard earned win earns them a rematch against Central Arizona in the second round. The Vaqueros handed the Bruins an 88-78 loss in the Divisional Championships on Mar. 9.
Tipoff is set for Wednesday, Mar. 20 at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on cable channel SLCCTV-17, SLCCTV online or NJCAA TV.
For more information, visit www.slccbruins.com.
