Flyers Defeated by Prince George's in District Title Game

The Sandhills Community College basketball team fell short in its bid to gain one of the eight automatic berths in the NJCAA Division III national tournament after a 96-84 Mid-Atlantic District loss to Prince George's in Largo, MD on Saturday afternoon.

The Flyers' hopes were dimmed by an almost seven-minute scoring drought that helped the home-standing Owls overcome a 13-point deficit and take a 48-35 lead into the intermission.

Coach Mike Apple's squad closed the gap to seven points at 89-82 on a three-point play by Zach Riddle with 1:20 remaining in the game before the home team connected on seven of eight free throws to complete the scoring.

Riddle led the Flyers with 21 points and his eight rebounds tied him with Damien Robinson and Ayden Gittens for team honors in that department. Other double-figures scorers were Jamori McDougald and Gittens with 14, and Robinson with 13.

Ranked No. 12 in the nation this week, the Flyers, 24-8, had won 14 of their previous 15 games and are seeking a sixth trip in a row to the national championships where they were runner-ups to Brookdale CC (NJ) last March. The Region 10 regular season and conference tournament champions will be hoping to receive one of the four at large bids to be announced on the Division III selection show carried by the NJCAA Network, starting at 2 p.m. on Wednesday.

Among the other ranked teams, hoping for at large bids after district losses include No. 1 Brookdale CC, No. 8 Dallas Richland, No. 10 Rochester Community and Technical College and Genesee CC.

Teams in addition to No. 11 ranked and 22-7 Prince George's, receiving automatic bids via district wins on Saturday and Sunday include Dallas North Lake, Montgomery County CC (PA) and Joliet CC (IL), Northern Essex (MA), Herkimer CC, Minnesota North College and Hostos CC (NY).  

The national tournament will again be held at Herkimer College in Herkimer, NY on March 12-16.

C. Bergmann