Southwest Men Win TCCAA/NJCAA Region VII Basketball Tournament

For more information, contact:
Keith Gentry
901-333-4114
mgentry@southwest.tn.edu

The 2015-16 Southwest Saluqis Men's Basketball Team won the TCCAA/NJCAA Region VII Basketball Tournament on Friday, March 4 in Gallatin, Tennessee. The Saluqis had to win three games in a row to win the tournament.

Game One: Saluqis 99 Dyersburg State 72 (March 1, 2016)

Box Score
Five players ended up with double figures (Lorenzen Wright Jr. 15 pts., Ronald Whitaker 13 pts., Jimario Rivers 13 pts., Brandon Key 13 pts., David Burrell 10 pts.) as the Saluqis demoralized the Eagles in the first round game.

Southwest had an offensive explosion, shooting 60% from the floor and 47% from beyond the three point arc. The Saluqis stifling defense held Dyersburg to 33% from the floor with a meek 14% from three.

Game Two: Saluqis 83 Chattanooga State 67 (March 3, 2016)

Box Score
In a game of revenge for Chattanooga State's earlier February 20, 85-82 upset win against a Saluqi team battling illness, the Southwest Saluqis reasserted their dominance with a 83-67 win. Southwest came out of the gate blazing and had doubled up theTigers at half 44-22. The first half was also the best defensive half of the season for the Saluqis as they held the Tigers to a mere 4 field goals.

The defense also served its overall purpose all game long by holding Chattanooga State to only 30% shooting from the field with 21% from three point land.

Southwest's top scorers were sprinkled throughout the lineup. Julian Daughtry came off the bench and scored a career high 16 pts. to lead all Saluqis. Other leading scorers were Gonda Ameri who had one of his best games scoring 13 pts. along with David Burrell who also had 13. Ronald Whitaker came off the bench to score 11 pts. as well.

Game Three: Saluqis 73 Motlow State 68 (March 4, 2016)

Box Score
In the championship game, two of the conference's best teams squared off and Southwest won for the third straight time in the 2015-16 season. It was a see-saw battle throughout after the Saluqis started off with an offesnive exoplosion that had them ahead by up to 10 pts. in the first half. By halftime however, Motlow had taken a 43-41 lead.

The second half was a defensive battle in which Southwest held Motlow to only 25 pts. Chief amongst the defensive accomplishments that the Saluqis produced was holding JUCO All-American and TCCAA/NJCAA Region VII Player of the Year, Jaylen Barford to only 17 pt. only one game after a 45 pt. outburst against Columbia State.

Brandon Key led Southwest scorers with 19 pts. and 8 assists, while Ronald Whitaker and David Burrell both had 14 pts. and a combined 12 rebounds.

NJCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament - Hutchinson, Kansas (March 14-19)

The Southwest Saluqis Men's Team is now seeded (#12) and will play Spartanburg Methodist College who is seeded (#21) on March 14 at 4:30 p.m. (CST)