Click Here to Listen to Head Coach Troy Larson Preview the National Tournament
The Iowa Lakes men's basketball team will be making an appearance in the NJCAA Division 2 National Tournament for the first time since 2021. The tournament will feature the top 16 NJCAA Division 2 teams from across the country meeting to play in Danville, Illinois beginning on Tuesday, March 21st and concluding on Saturday, April 25th with the national championship game. The tournament will follow a double elimination format and each team will be guaranteed to play at least two games.
Head Coach Troy Larson is looking forward to the opportunity, " "We are excited to be heading back to the national tournament. The NJCAA and the city of Danville do a first class job of running the tournament. It will be a great experience for our players, coaches, fans, and families. We are looking forward to competing against the best basketball teams in the country"
The Lakers earned the #5 overall seed in the tournament and they will open against 12th seeded Waubonsee on Wednesday, March 22nd at 1:00 P.M. central time in the first round.
The Lakers enter the tournament playing their best basketball of the season, as they are 18-3 on the season since December 1st. The Lakers defeated Kirkwood 96-87 in the championship game to earn an automatic bid to the tournament as the Region XI champion. Isiah Williams was named MVP of the tournament after averaging 18.3 points per game in the 3 Region XI tournament games. Anthony Holden and Creighton Morisch were also named to the Region XI All-Tournament Team.
Head Coach Troy Larson was pleased with his players, "We had an outstanding regional tournament hosting all three games. Our crowds where great especially the regional final game. Our team showed great toughness and was resilient as we were challenged in all three games. Had great performances from Isiah Williams as he was named MVP of the regional tournament as well as Creighton Morish, Anthony Holden, and Amari Crowder. We had a great winning spirit in both the semifinal and finals being down with around five minutes left in both games."
The Lakers finished the season 1st in the conference with an overall record of 24-8 and 13-3 in ICCAC play. The Lakers are led in scoring by Jeremiah Burke, who is averaging 14.8 points per game this season. The Lakers have a balanced scoring attack with 4 averaging double figures. Isaiah Williams is averaging 12.4 PPG, Creighton Morisch is averaging 11.9 PPG and 7.6 RPG, and Anthony Holdon is averaging 11.1 PPG. Burke is leading the conference in rebounds per game. Morisch is 4th in the conference in rebounds per game. Holden is 3rd in the conference in field goal percentage at 55.8% and 4th in the conference in 3 point percentage at 39.6%.
A big key for the Lakers in the national tournament will be rebounding, as they average 41.4 rebounds per game. Rebounding will start with Burke with 9.9 rebounds per game and Morisch with 7.6 rebounds per game. The Lakers are also averaging 18.2 assists per game led by Ozzie Meiborg at 2.9 per game. Ball movement, rebounding, and balanced scoring have been a recipe for success throughout the season for the Lakers.
Looking forward to the tournament, Head coach Troy Larson commented, ""Fortunate to be the five seed with the amount of games we lost in November. Direct result of our league being very well respected. We needed to go through that November adversity in order to become the team that we currently are. We are very well connected, have great chemistry and have sacrificed for one another. We play hard, play for one another, are tough, and have a high basketball IQ. Result is Iowa Lakes winning a lot of games."
Larson is the eighth men's basketball coach at Iowa Lakes Community College and has been coaching at Iowa Lakes for the past 16 years. This year he was awarded Coach of the Year in the ICCAC for the first time since the honor started in the 2017-2018 season. Larson's overall coaching record is 342 wins and 151 losses, earning All-Time Winningest Coach at Iowa Lakes this year with 337 wins.
The #12 seed Waubonsee finished their season with a record of 25-8 after winning the Region IV Tournament to earn a berth to the national tournament. The Chiefs are led by Joey Niesman (18.3 ppg) and Jaylyn Kelly (15.0 ppg). Both the Lakers and Chiefs are averaging over 80 points per game, so both teams can expect a high tempo game with a lot of scoring.
"Waubonsee is a good basketball team. They beat South Suburban and then Bryan & Stratton who we lost to earlier this year. Have some guards that are good players, fast, can get down hill and really score the ball. Also have a big guy who is a solid contributor. We are looking forward to the challenge," said Coach Larson
The winner will advance to play on Thursday, March 23 at 8:00 p.m. against the winner between fourth seeded Danville Area (IL) Community College (24-4) and 13th seeded Johnson County (KS) Community College (26-7). The loser between the Chiefs and Lakers will take on the loser between the host school Jaguars and Cavaliers at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday in an elimination contest.
All games throughout the duration of National Tournament can be streamed live on the NJCAA Network: https://www.njcaa.org/network .
OTHER: Photo of team attached after winning regional championship game vs Kirkwood.
Link to Roster: https://iowalakesathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2022-23/roster
Link to Schedule: https://iowalakesathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2022-23/schedule
MEDIA: For more information, please contact Head Men's Basketball Coach Troy Larson at (712) 362-7915 or the Iowa Lakes sports information office at (712) 362-7928.