HANCEVILLE, Ala. — Wallace State Community College’s men’s basketball team are making their way to Hutchinson, Kansas, to compete in the National Junior College Athletic Association’s Division I Basketball Tournament.
The Lions are ranked as the No. 21 seed in the tournament and drew No. 12 seed Lee College Navigators out of Baytown, Texas for their first match-up in the single-elimination tournament. The game is scheduled for Sunday, March 24 at 7:15 p.m., CDT from Hutchinson Sports Arena. The winner of that match will go on to play Np. 5 seed Indian Hills on March 26.
Wallace State defeated Bishop State Community 81-85 in overtime of the Alabama Community College Conference Division I tournament held earlier this month at the University of Alabama at Huntsville. The win marked the Lions’ first conference state championship since 2014 and its fourth in program history.
The team was led by tournament MVP Jimmie Williams, a freshman guard from Cleveland, Ohio. Williams is ranked second on the NJCAA Division I leaderboards for points (752) and field goals (274-505 or 54.3%). He’s ranked 10th nationally in points per game (22.8).
Other leaders include PJ Eason, a sophomore center from Dadeville, Ala., Aurthur Johnson, a freshman guard from Carrollton, Ga., Kelvin Turner, and freshman guard Jalen Carruth of Atlanta, Ga., scored 10 points and pulled down 9 rebounds.
“I’m proud of these young men and the effort they have put in to make it to the national tournament,” said Coach Allen Sharpe, who is making is fourth trip to the NJCAA tournament.
Assistant Coach Cory Cooperwood will be returning to “The Hutch” where he played during his 2007 year with Wallace State as an award-winning athlete. He was named Junior College Player of the Year by the Alabama Sports Writers Association after leading the Lions to a fifth-place finish in the NJCAA tournament. He was named as an NJCAA first team All-American, the first to any Wallace State-Hanceville basketball player to receive the honor.
The early games will be aired on ESPN+, with the finals to be aired on ESPNU. Visit www.njcaa.org for more information.
