Less than two weeks removed from their District I loss to Central Arizona College, the Salt Lake Community College men’s basketball team has a chance at redemption as they face the Vaqueros tonight in their second-round game of the NJCAA National Championships.
Central Arizona earned a first-round bye as a 6 seed, while the Bruins defeated Eastern Oklahoma State 86-82 in their opening round game Mar. 19.
The Bruins need to correct their mistakes in order to avoid another loss. In their Mar. 9 matchup, Central Arizona committed just 9 turnovers and 7 fouls for the game, compared to SLCC’s 17 and 19, respectively. The foul discrepancy allowed the Vaqueros to convert 19 of 23 free throws, while the Bruins made 8 of 13 from the free-throw line.
The Bruins will have to keep sophomore guards DesJuan Newton and DeAndre Mathieu in check, as they lead Central Arizona averaging 17.3 and 17.1 points per game, respectively. Freshman forward Harve Aholode leads the team in rebounding averaging 9.2 per game.
Tipoff is set for 7 p.m., and Bruin fans can watch the live broadcast on cable channel SLCCTV-17, SLCCTV online or NJCAA TV.
For more information, visit www.slccbruins.com.
