PREVIEW: Men's basketball hosts Southeastern in Region XI Tournament
The Marshalltown Community College men's basketball team will host Southeastern Community College Monday night for the opening round of the Region XI Tournament.
2017 NJCAA Region XI Tournament Bracket
The Marshalltown Community College men's basketball team will host Southeastern Community College Monday night for the opening round of the Region XI Tournament. The Tigers enter postseason play as the No. 4 seed and will host the fifth-seeded Blackhawks at 7:00 PM inside the Student Activity Center.
MCC enters the Region XI Tournament with a 17-11 overall record and a 3-5 mark in the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC). The Blackhawks, under newly appointed head coach Lorenzo Watkins, finished the regular season at 13-16 overall and 0-8 in league play.
The winner of Monday's matchup will advance to take on top-seeded Indian Hills Community College at 7:00 PM Wednesday night. The No. 2 seed Iowa Western Community College Reivers will host No. 3 seed Northeast Community College at 7:00 PM Wednesday night in the other semifinal matchup.
Monday's matchup boasts the top two scorers in the ICCAC. Southeastern's Rayford Albright leads the league with 14.4 points per contest while MCC's Mohamed Thiam (Dekar, Senegal/Canarias) ranks a close second at 14.3. Thiam is the league's only player currently averaging a double-double with a league-high 10.2 rebounds per contest. In the team's two matchups this season, Thiam is averaging 21.5 points and 15.0 rebounds per game while Albright has been limited to 11.5 per game.
As a team, the Tigers are averaging 79.8 points per contest this year compared to the Blackhawks' 79.0 points per game. MCC enters Monday night with a sizeable rebounding margin, averaging the second most boards per game in the league at 44.3. Southeastern ranks last at 39.5.
Along with the Tigers' regular season sweep, MCC also won the last postseason meeting, a 75-72 upset in the 2015 postseason tournament vs. the Blackhawks. Southeastern has won seven of the last 10 matchups with the Tigers and owns a 3-2 advantage in postseason play since 2004. The Tigers have won each of its last three Region XI Tournament openers overall.
Southeastern enters Monday night's contest on a four-game losing streak. The Tigers are coming off of a 77-76 victory over Notheast on Saturday night.
Monday night's matchup will provide live stats and live video. For complete coverage, visit: www.mccathletics.com/composite
BY THE NUMBERS (2016-17 Totals)
| Category | MCC | SECC |
| Overall Record | 17-11 | 13-16 |
| Conference | 3-5 | 0-8 |
| Non-Conference | 14-6 | 13-8 |
| Home | 11-4 | 12-10 |
| Away | 4-6 | 1-6 |
| Neutral | 2-1 | 0-0 |
| Points P/G | 79.8 | 79.0 |
| Points Allowed P/G | 73.0 | 72.2 |
| FG % | 44.3 % | 45.6% |
| 3pt % | 31.3 % | 32.8 % |
| FT % | 65.5 % | 64.0 % |
| Rebounds/G | 44.3 | 39.5 |
| Turnovers/G | 16.6 | 11.3 |
LAST 10 MEETINGS
| Year | Result | Location |
| 2017 | W, 90-86 | Marshalltown, IA |
| 2017 | W, 75-67 | West Burlington, IA |
| 2016 | L, 66-62 | Marshalltown, IA |
| 2016 | L, 74-70 | West Burlington, IA |
| 2015* | W, 75-72 | West Burlington, IA |
| 2015 | L, 78-70 | Marshalltown, IA |
| 2015 | L, 92-67 | West Burlington, IA |
| 2014 | L, 66-63 | West Burlington, IA |
| 2014 | L, 66-54 | Marshalltown, IA |
| 2013* | L, 86-80 | West Burlington, IA |
* Region XI Tournament
