Eagles receive at-large bid to National Tournament
Special to the Outlook
TCC men’s basketball team received an at-large bid to the NJCAA Division I Tournament last Sunday, one day after finishing second in the state championship tournament.
The national tournament starts March 20 in Hutchinson, Kan.
The Eagles enter the tournament as the No. 12 seed and will play Trinidad State (23-7, 12-0) in the first round on opening day at 8:30 p.m. central time. Trinidad State received an automatic bid to the tournament after winning the Northwest Plains District Championship 78-77 over Casper College.
The winner of Monday’s game will take on the No. 5 seed Salt Lake on March 22 at 2 p.m. central time.
After advancing to the FCSAA/NJCAA Region 8 Championship Game, which the Eagles dropped 89-85 to Northwest Florida State, they are now 28-5 on the season. 25 of their wins came against NJCAA Division I opponents, and they are 7-4 against teams ranked in the NJCAA Top 25.
This is the fifth time in program history that the Eagles have qualified for the NJCAA Tournament but will be just their fourth trip to Hutchinson, Kansas. The tournament was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Only 19 schools have reached the tournament more times than TCC.
TCC’s first trip to Hutchinson came in 1997 under head coach Mike Gillespie. In 2006, TCC finished as national runners-up, after falling in the National Championship game to the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith. The Eagles’ next trip to Hutch came in 2011, where they reached the quarterfinals.
