M State Men Win Region XIII Championship, Qualify for National Tournament

The M State Men's Basketball team is headed to the NJCAA Division III National Tournament for the first time since the 2003-2004 season.  The Spartans (29-2) qualified with an 84-62 win over Riverland in the Region XIII Championship game at Anoka-Ramsey Community College in Coon Rapids.  The Spartans held the Blue Devils to 18 points in the first half as they established a 43-18 halftime advantage.

M State shot 54% (34-63) from the field and made half (10-20) of their 3-pointers.  Mason Muir led the Spartans with 24 points, while adding 7 rebounds, 5 assists, a pair of steals and a blocked shot.  Foday Sheriff registered a double-double (23 points, 17 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 block) and Yonis Mohamud scored 20 points, dished out 3 assists, came up with 3 steals and pulled down 3 rebounds.  Tyson McArthur was 6-for-6 from the field, making all 3 of his 3's and scoring 15 points.  He also had 7 rebounds and 3 assists. Braylon Baldwin assisted on 4 baskets and the Spartans had 21 assists on 34 made baskets.

Riverland made 38% (25-66) of their field goal attempts, but hit only 16.7% (4-24) of their three pointers.  Christian Campbell scored a team high 23 points and Nazih Chehade scored 22 points, pulled down 9 rebounds, dished out 6 assists and came up with 3 steals.  Joe Poyser added 10 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.

Foday Sheriff was named the MVP of the Region Tournament.

M State will travel to Herkimer, New York to compete in the National Tournament March 12-15.  The Region title is the seventh in program history.  The MCAC championship is the eighth by a Spartan Men's team and their first since the 2002-2003 season.

National tournament seedings will be announced March 5 at 2:00pm via the NJCAA Basketball Selection Show.