Men's Basketball Earns Trip to NJCAA Region III Tournament
CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. - The Finger Lakes Community College Men's Basketball team earned a trip to compete in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region III, Division III Tournament tomorrow Saturday February, 19th. The Lakers will visit the Hawks of Mohawk Valley Community College for a Quarterfinal matchup in the Robert R. Jorgensen Athletic Center in a 1 P.M. contest.
The Lakers enter the Men's Basketball Championships as the 11th seed, as the prepare for the 6th seed Vikings who enter with a record of 14-9. The two teams met early in the season on Novemeber 13th, 2021 with the Lakers falling by a score of 96-61.
Despite the loss, The Lakers have found new life late in the season, in the frontcourt Devon Payton (Rochester, N.Y./ Gates Chili) who is averaging 17 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists has played an important role coming off the bench and providing an offensive spark. In the backcourt, Freshman CJ James (Victor, N.Y./ Victor) has put together several impressive perfomances as a do-it-all, utility player, averaging 6 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks and 1 steal a game. Sophomore Ben Waterman (Savannah, N.Y.) has been a consistent option for the Lakers, netting 12 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal a game.
The Lakers have seen consistent contributions from Jevonte Williams (Rochester, N.Y./ Rush Henrietta) who adds 16 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists a game, along with Freshman Austin Franklin (Hunstville, A.L./ Prince George) who contributes 7 points, 3 rebounds and 1 steal a game.
With competitve matches against the nationally ranked #2 Lazers of Onondaga Community College, along with wins over North Country, Cayuga, Broome and Tompkins Cortland Community College(s), the Lakers look to put up a fight to upset the higher seed in their matchup.
With a win, the Lakers would earn a rematch with the Generals of Herkimer College on Tuesday, February 22nd.