The Iowa Lakes men's basketball team will be making their 2nd consecutive appearance at the NJCAA Division II National Tournament. The tournament will feature the top 20 NJCAA Division II teams from across the country meeting at the Mary Miller Center in Danville, Illinois. The National Tournament begins Monday, March 18th and concludes on Saturday, March 23rd with the national championship game. The tournament will follow a double elimination format and each team will be guaranteed to play at least two games.
Head Coach Jason McKinney is looking forward to the opportunity, "We are excited to be heading to the national tournament. The NJCAA and the city of Danville do a spectacular job of running the tournament. It will be a great experience for our players, coaches, fans, and families. We are looking forward to competing against the best basketball teams in the country."
The Lakers earned the #11 overall seed in the tournament, and they will open against 6th seeded Milwaukee Area Technical College on Monday, March 18th, at 8:00 pm.
The Lakers earned their spot in the National Tournament via one of the 4 at large bids. The Lakers were defeated in the championship game by Ellsworth 84-92, leading Ellsworth to earn an automatic bid to the tournament as the Region XI champions.
The Lakers finished the season 2nd in the conference with an overall record of 26-7 and 14-4 in ICCAC play. The Lakers are led in scoring by Kai Evans, who is averaging 17.9 points per game this season. The Lakers have a balanced scoring attack with 4 averaging double figures. Sam West is averaging 15.8 PPG and 8.2 RPG, Benard Omooria is averaging 15.1 PPG, and Jaeden Jefferson is averaging 10.5 PPG. Evans is leading the conference in points per game and 7th in field goal percentage with 52.4%. West is 3rd in the conference in rebounds per game. Omooria is 4th in the conference in 3-point percentage at 41.8%.
A big key for the Lakers in the national tournament will be rebounding, as they average 40.6 rebounds per game. Rebounding will start with West with 8.2 rebounds per game and Evans with 6.0 rebounds per game. The Lakers are also averaging 15.7 assists per game led by Sam West at 4.1 per game. Ball movement, rebounding, and balanced scoring have been a recipe for success throughout the season for the Lakers.
Looking forward to the tournament, Head coach Jason McKinney commented, "We are fortunate enough to get the at large bid to the national tournament. We needed to go through that late season adversity in order to become the team that we currently are. We are very well connected, have great chemistry, and have sacrificed for one another. We play hard, play for one another, are tough, and have a high basketball IQ. Result is Iowa Lakes winning a lot of games."
The #6 seed Milwaukee Area Tech finished their season with a record of 28-5 after winning the Region IV Tournament to earn a berth to the national tournament. The Stormers are led by Shelton Williams-Dryden (19.3 ppg), Shamann Artis (13.8 ppg), and Ke'Varius Taylor (11.4 ppg). Both the Lakers and Stormers are averaging over 80 points per game, so both teams can expect a high tempo game with a lot of scoring.
"Milwaukee Area Tech is a good basketball team. We met them early in the season and learned a lot from that game and were able to build off of that loss. They have some guards that are good players, fast, can get downhill and really score the ball. Also have a big guy who is a solid contributor. We are looking forward to the challenge," said Coach McKinney.
The winner will advance to play on Wednesday, March 20 at 8:00 p.m. against the winner of third seeded Ellsworth Community College (27-6), who will play the winner of the #14 Monroe CC (NY) vs #19 Morris (NJ). The loser between the Stormers and Lakers will take on the loser of the Ellsworth vs Monroe/Morris game in an elimination game on Wednesday.
All games throughout the duration of National Tournament can be streamed live on the NJCAA Network: https://www.njcaa.org/network.
OTHER: Photo of 23-24 team attached.
Link to Roster: https://www.iowalakesathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2023-24/roster
Link to Schedule: https://www.iowalakesathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2023-24/schedule
MEDIA: For more information, please contact Head Men's Basketball Coach Jason McKinney at (712)362-7916 or the Iowa Lakes sports information office at (712) 362-7928.