Danville, IL - The championship game, and Game 26 of the 2017 NJCAA Division II Men's
Basketball Tournament, featured the top seed Southwestern Community College against
Louisburg, the three-seed, with a 7:30 p.m. tip-off on Saturday, March 25, 2017.

Mikeil Watkins put in the first lay up of the game and knocked in a three-pointer to give
Louisburg the initial advantage 7-2.

Southwestern would counter minutes later and on an Alijah Thomas three, took the lead 9-7,
capping a 7-0 Spartan run.

With two ties in between, Southwestern would go on a run starting at the eight-minute mark.
Jordan Johnson and Brodric Thomas both made threes during the two-minute spurt and
Louisburg was forced to call a timeout down 25-15 and momentum in Southwestern's favor.
Ten points would be the Spartans largest lead of the half, A 6-2 run to end the first period cut
the Hurricanes deficit to six as the teams headed into the locker room.

HALFTIME SCORE:
Southwestern - 31
Louisburg - 25

TEAM LEADERS:
Southwestern:
#3 Brodric Thomas - 6'5", Fr. - 9 pts, 4/8 FG, 3 rebs
#10 Jordan Johnson - 6', So. - 5 pts, 2 asts
#4 Lavon Hightower - 6'5", So. - 4 pts, 5 rebs

Louisburg:
#21 Mikeil Watkins - 5'11", Fr. - 9 pts, 2 rebs
#15 Derek McKnight - 6'1", So. - 4 pts, 2 rebs
#5 Troy Locke - 6'3", So. - 4 pts, 2 rebs, 2 stls

With 14:25 in the half, a layup by Justice Cuthbertson capped off a 10-4 run over the first five
and half minutes of the second half and the game was all knotted up at 35.

The teams battled on the defensive end for the next four minutes. Hurricane Josh Bougher put
in a middle of the lane fade after a rebound in traffic to put the game at 42-40 in favor of
Southwestern.

The Spartans would then take control of the game. A three pointer by Jamil Maddred and
another by Brodric Thomas sparked a 10-2 Spartan rally.

The score ballooned to 20 points after a 13-1 run from the 3:03 mark to the 1:38 mark. In
control of the game, Southwestern made 15 of their final 16 free throw attempts that kept the
game out of reach.

Southwestern won 77-53.

Southwestern Community College is the 2017 NJCAA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament
champion. Louisburg College is the runner up.

FINAL SCORE:
Southwestern - 77
Louisburg - 53

TEAM LEADERS:
Southwestern:
#3 Brodric Thomas - 6'5", Fr. - 18 pts
#10 Jordan Johnson - 6', So. - 10 pts
#4 Lavon Hightower - 6'5", So. - 11 pts
#15 KeShawn Wilson - 6'2", So. - 10 pts
#5 Jamil Maddred - 6'5", So. - 11 pts

Louisburg:
#21 Mikeil Watkins - 5'11", Fr. - 9 pts
#5 Troy Locke - 6'3", So. - 14 pts
#11 Justice Cuthbertson - 6'2", So. - 10 pts