From the opening tip in this evening’s winner-take all, one game District III final, it was clear that this was to be the Monroe Mustangs men’s basketball team’s night. They began the game with three three-pointers from three different players and never looked back. After nine minutes at was 26-7 and at half they had a commanding 43-18 lead on their way to a dominating 88-55 win over Hagerstown, CC (MD) to win the NJCAA Division I Men’s District III basketball championship and earn their third consecutive berth in the National Tournament being held March 20-24 in Hutchinson, KS. Box Score Read about it in the Herald Mail
“From the first day of practice in the fall, it was our goal to win this game today so we can get back to the Nationals,” said coach Jeff Brustad. “We played well, had things clicking on a lot of cylinders, and now we have to get to work to get ready for Kansas.”
Monroe’s three-point parade continued throughout the game as five different players hit from the arc. As a team Monroe shot 13/23 from downtown. Davon Marshall was 5/6, Marco Bourgault was 5/9, and Maurice Ndour, Drimir Ferguson, and Jalil Abdul-Bassit had one.
Monroe also outrebounded the Hawks 48-36. Though Ferguson’s stat line was impressive: 9 points, 9 assists, 5 steals, as was Sanchez double double of 12 points and 11 rebounds, after the game Marshall was awarded the MVP trophy for his 21 points on 8/12 shooting.
The Mustangs are now 30-3 and will open their play in the NJCAA Division I tournament on Tuesday, March 20 at 12 noon (1:00pm, NY time) against the team that emerges from District 11 (Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota).
