Chargers to Compete in D-II District Basketball Tournaments

By Nicholas Huenefeld/OCCAC Sports Information

Circleville, Ohio---Ohio Christian University will be the home for the Region XII District I (WBB) and Region XII District 11 (MBB) tournaments this weekend as the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC) decides its bids to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II National Tournaments.

REGION XII DISTRICT I TOURNAMENT - OFFICIAL BRACKET (HERE)

Two-time defending champion Owens Community College (30-0 overall) will look to defend its crown as the No. 1 seed against a tough field of teams including Cincinnati State Technical and Community College (24-6), Cuyahoga Community College (21-7), Sinclair Community College (22-7) and Edison Community College (20-10).

The tournament kicks off on Tuesday with a quarterfinal matchup as No. 5 seed Edison travels to No. 4 seed Sinclair at 5:30 p.m. The winner of that game will play No. 1 seed Owens at 1 p.m. on Friday at Ohio Christian. No. 2 seed Cincinnati State and No. 3 seed Cuyahoga will play in the second semifinal at 3 p.m. on Friday at Ohio Christian.

The two winners will meet in the championship game at 12 p.m. on Saturday at Ohio Christian with the winner advancing to the NJCAA Division II National Tournament in Harrison, Ark. March 21-25.

District I Notes

Either Owens or Cincinnati State have won the past six district championships with each team winning three times. Owens won in 2012-13, 2014-15 and 2015-16, while Cincinnati State won in 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2013-14.

Owens defeated Cincinnati State 71-69 in last year's championship game.

Outside of the 2014-15 title game between Owens and Columbus State and the 2011-12 title game between Cincinnati State and Sinclair, both Owens and Cincinnati State have met in the championship game every year since 2010-11. Cincinnati State defeated Sinclair for the title in 2011-12.

Only NJCAA Division II teams in the OCCAC are eligible for this tournament. Columbus State defeated Hocking College for the Region XII Division II championship before falling to Rock Valley in a Division III district championship game. 

REGION XII DISTRICT 11 TOURNAMENT - OFFICIAL BRACKET (HERE)

Last year's champion, Columbus State Community College, is unable to defend its crown due to its departure from NJCAA Division II for Division III, where they dropped a heartbreaking Region XII championship game in overtime to Lorain County Community College last week.

Last year's runner-up, Cuyahoga Community College (27-2), split the regular season OCCAC championship with No. 1 seed Cincinnati State Technical and Community College (23-7). Both of those teams have earned a quarterfinal-round bye.

Thus, this year's two quarterfinal matchups will feature No. 6 seed Clark State Community College (1-24) traveling to No. 3 seed Owens Community College (22-8) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The other quarterfinal will feature No. 5 seed Edison Community College (17-13) traveling to face No. 4 seed Sinclair Community College (21-9) on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

The winner of the Owens - Clark State quarterfinal will advance to face Cuyahoga at 8 p.m. on Friday at Ohio Christian, while the winner of the Sinclair - Edison quarterfinal will face Cincinnati State at 6 p.m. on Friday in the other semifinal at Ohio Christian.

The two semifinal winners will meet in Saturday's championship game at 3 p.m. at Ohio Christian with the winner advancing to the NJCAA Division II National Tournament in Danville, Ill. from March 21-25.

District 11 Notes

Prior to last year's championship game matchup between Cuyahoga and Columbus State, Owens Community College had appeared in four straight district championship games - losing two on buzzer beaters (2013-14, 2014-15). Three of those four featured Owens against Lakeland Community College (2011-12, 2012-13, 2014-15), while the other featured Owens vs Cincinnati State (2013-14). 

Cincinnati State earned the No. 1 seed in the tournament over No. 2 seed Cuyahoga based on its head-to-head tiebreaker and its better record against NJCAA Division II teams within the OCCAC.

GENERAL NOTES

Official tournament t-shirts will be available at Ohio Christian University for $10.

Tickets are $5 per individual, per session. There will be separate sessions for Friday and Saturday, and each session covers both tournaments. Children under five are admitted free when accompanied by an adult, and all current students of the participating schools are granted free admission provided they present proper identification.

All semifinal and championship games will be streamed live on the Owens Community College Athletics YouTube page. Links will be posted on the OCCAC MBB and WBB schedule pages, as well as this page, later this week.

Box scores and play-by-play will be posted immediately after each game on the OCCAC site and this page.

Official tournament programs will be available for $3 at Ohio Christian University.

The tournament at Ohio Christian will be played in the Maxwell Center. The address for the gym is:

Maxwell Center
Ohio Christian University
1476 Lancaster Pike
Circleville, OH 43113

Under its current format, the NJCAA Division II National Tournament (MBB and WBB) has three bids from Region XII - two from Michigan and one from Ohio. Prior to 2010-11, the NJCAA National Tournament only took two teams from Region XII and the two tournaments mixed teams from Ohio and Michigan.

This year marks the fourth straight year that Ohio Christian University has hosted both tournaments.

If you have any questions about the tournament, please email theoccac@gmail.com.