BLUE DRAGON MEN'S BASKETBALL |
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No. 11 Hutchinson (29-6) vs. No. 6 Florida Southwestern State (29-2) When: Wednesday, March 21, 2018 Where: Hutchinson Sports Arena Game Time: 8:00 p.m. Live Radio: KHUT-FM (102.9), 7:50 p.m. Video: NJCAATV.com (pay per view) Live stats: Click for link (available at tipoff) Twitter: @bluedragonsport |
Hutchinson CC Sports Information
The No. 11-seeded Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team will play No. 6 seed Florida Southwestern State in the second round of the 2018 NJCAA Division I Men's National Tournament on Wednesday at the Sports Arena.
The game will be broadcast live on Blue Dragon flagship station KHUT-FM (102.9) at 7:50 p.m. with Glen Grunwald (play-by-play) and Rusty Hilst (analysis) calling the action. NJCAATV.com will provide video services as a pay-per-view package.
Wednesday's game features the program with the most total wins in NJCAA men's basketball history against a program in just its second year of existence. The Blue Dragons enter play on Wednesday with a grand total of 2,370 games played (1,780 wins). Southwestern plays in just its 65th game in its history.
Located in Fort Myers, Florida, Florida Southwestern was formerly known as Edison Community College. Edison suspended its athletic program more than 20 years ago. Under its new name, the athletic program was revived three years ago.
The Blue Dragons and Buccaneers will play the final second-round game of the tournament for the right to go to the national quarterfinals on Thursday. The Blue Dragons advanced with an 84-60 victory on Tuesday over Cape Fear. Florida Southwestern will be the last team to play its first game of the tournament as one of the top-eight seeds to receive an opening round bye.
The winner will play the Vincennes/Motlow State winner in Thursday's 8 p.m. quarterfinal.
Hutchinson used a strong second half on Tuesday to defeat Cape Fear 84-60 in the opening round. The Blue Dragons led only 32-30 at halftime, but shot better than 56 percent in the second half to pull away.
Sophomore J.J. Rhymes led all scorers with 19 points. Devonte Bandoo named three 3-pointers and finished with 18 points. James Rojas posted a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
Defensively, the Blue Dragons held Cape Fear to 23 points under its season-scoring average and limited the Sea Devils to 28.6 percent shooting as Hutch outscored Cape Fear 52-30 in the second half.
Like Hutchinson, Florida Southwestern State is an at-large selection to the 2018 Tournament, The Buccaneers (29-2) lost 86-65 to eventual Region VIII champion Northwest Florida State in the regional semifinals on March 9.
The only other loss Southwestern had was a December loss to 2017 NJCAA National runner-up Eastern Florida State 86-82 on a neutral court.
In last year's run to the national championship, Hutchinson had to defeat three Florida teams – St. Petersburg, Northwest Florida State and Eastern Florida State.
The Blue Dragons will be bidding for their 50th all-time tournament victory and their 17th appearance in the NJCAA Tournament quarterfinals.