Echo staff report
North Lake College plays Elgin Community College on March 18 in the Division III NJCAA men’s championship game at the Regional Sports Center on RCTC’s campus. It was the first men’s Division III national tournament held outside New York. (Echo Photo by Isaac Sindt)
North Lake College defeated Elgin Community College 66-56 to win the Division III NJCAA National Championships at RCTC on March 18.
This was the first time the Division III NJCAA men’s tournament was held in Rochester. RCTC has hosted the women’s tournament in the past and will again in 2018.
North Lake head coach Tim McGraw became the first community college men’s basketball coach to win three national titles at the non-scholarship level.
North Lake of Irving, Texas, was the No. 5 seed, beating fourth-seeded Davidson County College 83-77, No. 1 seed Anoka-Ramsey Community College 56-54 and finally, Elgin Community College to claim the championship during the tournament held March 16-18 at the Regional Sports Center.
Next year, the men’s tournament moves back to New York, and then it will return to Rochester in 2019.