Branchburg, NJ – Garrett College's undefeated men's basketball season reached new heights this past weekend as the Lakers claimed just the fourth national tournament berth in program history.
The top-seeded Lakers (15-0) held off second-seeded Niagara County Community College, 69-64, in Saturday's NJCAA Division II East District final at Raritan Valley Community College. D'Monte Brown went 4-for-4 at the line over the final 2:23 and Davis Molloy hit a clutch corner jumper with 51.9 seconds remaining to keep the Thunder Wolves at bay.
"Davis was exhausted, but showed his toughness and hit a shot we had a lot of confidence with him taking," GC head coach Dennis Gibson said of Molloy's jumper. "And others hit crucial shots down the stretch – D'Monte's free throws, Lamont Powell's 'three', Malik Whitaker's great move in the lane, and so on."
Garrett College – the last undefeated Division II team in the country after top-ranked Ancilla College's loss in the Great Lakes District B tournament – will participate in the Division II national tournament April 20-24. That 16-team event, which includes the 15 district champions and one at-large selection, will take place at the Mary Miller Center in Danville, IL.
The Lakers reached the title game with a 101-74 blowout of host RVCC in Friday's semifinals. GC, ranked fourth in the latest NJCAA Division II national poll, claimed its third district crown, having won consecutive district titles in 2014 and 2015.
"Our 2015 team was much better defensively, but this is a great offensive team," said Gibson, whose squad is averaging 96.5 points per game this season. "And they are unselfish. Cam [Selders], Malik, Davis, and D'Monte all take pride in sharing the ball. If your stars are unselfish, your team can be good."
This latest Laker championship did not come easily as the resilient Thunder Wolves held Garrett to its lowest-scoring game of the season. Niagara had two opportunities to tie the game in the final minute, but neither of Jamond Jones' 3-point efforts found the mark.
"Niagara played great defense and denied us so much of our offensive movement," said Gibson. "Niagara was unbelievably prepared – they called out our plays better than our own team.
"They were physically stronger and really kept us from running our sets," he continued. "So many times our top guys relied on their ability to make plays under pressure."
Garrett led most of the way, building an early 11-point cushion before settling for a 37-32 halftime advantage. Niagara stayed within range throughout the second half and trailed only 63-61 with less than 2:30 remaining.
Brown, fouled on a drive to the basket, sank two free throws with 2:23 left to give GC a 65-61 lead, but Adam Hosseini hit the first of two free throws and turned a steal into a fast-break layup to get the Thunder Wolves within 65-64 with 1:22 remaining.
Region III champion Niagara played strong defense on the ensuing Laker possession – but that defensive effort ended up being for naught. Molloy nailed a jumper from the right corner with just 3 seconds remaining on the shot clock to stretch GC's lead to 67-64.
Jones then missed a potential tying 3-pointer, but the Thunder Wolves retained possession when the ball went off a Laker. Kailee White turned the ball over with 31 seconds remaining, but Niagara stayed alive when GC's Robel Desta missed the front end of a one-and-one with 25.8 seconds left.
Jones then missed another potential game-tying 3-pointer, with Brown securing the rebound. Brown – who had team highs in both points (20) and rebounds (14) –then hit two free throws with 7.2 seconds left to assure the win.
Whitaker (10 rebounds, 2 assists) added 17 points and Selders (6 rebounds, 6 assists) contributed 11 for the Lakers, who also received 9 points from Molloy (5 rebounds, 2 assists). Reserves Antonio Marr and Powell scored 6 and 5, respectively, to account for all 11 Laker bench points.
Allen Fordham, Justin Hendrick, and Jones each scored 10 points to pace Niagara.
Niagara (11-4) came into the finals on a four-game winning streak, including an 83-67 victory over third-seeded Region XIX champion Lackawanna College (7-11) in Friday's district semifinal.
While many NJCAA Division II programs took a COVID hiatus this season – including all of the Maryland colleges, except Garrett and Allegany College of Maryland – Gibson said that doesn't diminish what the Lakers have accomplished.
"Some folks want to say since so many teams did not play it was lucky for us," observed Gibson. "I don't want anyone to second-guess this team. This team could compete at any level.
"Nationally ranked Harcum's only loss was to us," he continued. "Allegany is a loaded Division I team, Potomac State is always a great match-up, and so on. And if you look at the national tournament board, all the usual teams are back in the tournament."
