Hawks take Region 20 DI Men's Basketball Championship Title

Hagerstown Community College Men's Basketball clinched the NJCAA Region 20 Division I championship yesterday, at home, as HCC served as host for this year's tournament.  

Hagerstown defeated the Allegany College of Maryland Trojans, 39-31, on Friday afternoon, advancing the Hawks to the championship game on Saturday. James Cottrell went 4-9 to lead HCC with 10 points and 8 rebounds and Malik Jordan added 8 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.  Kyree Ellis posted 8 points and 3 rebounds, Kristoff Hayden had 6 points and 4 rebounds, and Brye Hopkins had 4 points and 4 rebounds.  Balanced scoring combined with strong rebounding were keys to the Hawks victory.

As the third seed, and tournament underdog, the Hawks faced #1 seeded Harford on Saturday, edging the Fighting Owls 77-74, in a hard fought game. Kristoff Hayden lead the Hawks with 20 points, going 6-9, and 2-3 from 3 point range.  Hayden pulled down 7 rebounds, had 2 assists and 3 steals in the game. Malik Jordan scored 15, with 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal.  James Cottrell had 13 points, lead the Hawks with 11 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots.  After two previous in-season losses to the Fighting Owls, the Hawks bettered Harford in overall scoring attempts and 3 point shot percentage, and executed a more consistent defense to come away with the win.

Selections to the All Tournament Team include Kristoff Hayden – Hagerstown, Tournament MVP, Malik Jordan – Hagerstown, James Cottrell – Hagerstown, Chandler Johnson – Harford, Ricardo Ross – Harford, and Jordan Johnson – Allegany.

Representing Region 20, the Hawks move on to face Region 19's Harcum College Bears in the East District Championship at Allegany College of Maryland, Saturday, March 5th at 1:00 p.m.