The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

THE NJCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament will feature several Bahamian student athletes, including a head-to-head matchup in the opening round.

Twenty-four teams will travel to Hutchinson, Kansas, to compete in the tournament March 14-19.

Deangelo Elisee and his Triton Trojans will face Garreth Edgecombe and the Caldwell Community College Tech Cobras on Tuesday, March 15 at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.

Tipoff is at 1pm local time.

Deyton Albury and Chipola College are the no.5 seed in the bracket and earned a first round bye.

The No. 11 ranked Trojans finished the season at 27-5 and secured one of eight at large bids in the field while the Cobras are the No. 22 seed in the field and finished 25-7.

In 32 games this season with 18 starts, Elisee, the 6’9” freshman forward, averaged a team-leading 3.3 blocks, 9.6 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.

Trojans first year head coach John Clancy reflected on the journey the programme had to take to make it to this point and knew he inherited a great foundation.

“I am thrilled for our players, programme and Triton College for earning a bid to the national tournament,” said Clancy. “They [Caldwell] are the leading rebounding team in the country and have three dynamic scorers… Coach McIver does a great job and any team that makes it to ‘Hutch’ is going to be an elite team.”

Edgecombe and the Cobras defeated USC-Salkehatchie 68-66 in the Division 1 Region 10/ Atlantic District Tournament Championship Saturday afternoon in Hudson, North Carolina to earn an automatic bid to the tournament.

The Trojans captured their second straight Region 4 Division I title and third in four years with a 92-65 victory over second-seeded Kankakee Community College last month. They missed out on an automatic bid with a loss to Moberly Area Community College in the District title game but still earned an at-large bid.

Deyton Albury and Chipola advanced to the national tournament with a 73-64 win over Indian River State College Saturday night to win the FCSAA State Title and an automatic bid. He finished with four points and five rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench.

The freshman guard averaged 4.2 points and 2.8 rebounds per game in his first season with the programme.

Following their bye, Chipola will play the winner of the matchup between no.12 seed Hutchinson and no.21 seed Connors Stat at 3pm