By Nicholas Huenefeld/OCCAC Sports Information
Sinclair vs Cuyahoga live stream - here
Columbus State vs Lakeland live stream - here
Columbus State vs Cuyahoga live stream - here
Semifinal recaps - here
Circleville, Ohio---The Region XII District 11 men's basketball tournament kicks off this week! It will feature eight teams from the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC) battling it out for the conference's lone bid to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II National Tournament in Danville, Ill.
On Tuesday, the schools of the top four seeds will host quarterfinal matchups. The advancing teams will take part in the semifinals on Friday evening with the championship game occurring on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. The final four teams will compete at Ohio Christian University in Circleville, Ohio.
The tournament's No. 1 seed is Sinclair Community College (27-2 overall, 13-1 OCCAC). The Tartan Pride just finished a stellar conference season that allowed them to capture the program's first OCCAC championship since 2007-08.
In the top half of the bracket, Sinclair will host No. 8 seed Clark State Community College (5-22 overall) on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the first quarterfinal. The next quarterfinal will feature No. 4 seed Owens Community College (18-12 overall, 9-5 OCCAC) hosting No. 5 seed Cuyahoga Community College (17-13, 7-7 OCCAC) at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
The winner of those two quarterfinals will meet in a 6 p.m. semifinal on Friday at Ohio Christian.
The lower half of the bracket will first feature a quarterfinal with No. 2 seed Columbus State Community College (21-6 overall, 10-4 OCCAC) hosting No. 7 seed Edison Community College (12-18, 3-11 OCCAC) at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. That game will be hosted at Ohio Christian University.
The fourth quarterfinal will feature No. 3 seed Lakeland Community College (17-12, 9-5 OCCAC) hosting No. 6 seed Cincinnati State Technical and Community College (14-16, 3-11 OCCAC) at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.
The winner of those two quarterfinal matchups will meet in the second semifinal at 8 p.m. on Friday at Ohio Christian University.
Similar to their women's team, Clark State earned a berth in the tournament despite not being eligible for conference play until next season.
Lakeland is the defending Region XII District 11 champion. They defeated Owens 80-78 in last year's final. Their quarterfinal matchup will feature the winners of the past two district championships.
Notes
This will be the third consecutive season that Ohio Christian University has played host to the Region XII District I and Region XII District 11 women's and men's basketball tournaments.
Single day tickets for this year's tournament are $5 at the door. Official tournament programs will also be available for $3, and there will be a concession stand.
The two semifinal matchups, along with the championship game, will all be streamed live and archived on YouTube. Stay tuned to this news release for more exact info on links once they become available.
Furthermore, make sure to check out OCCAC.org for full box scores immediately after each final four game. You can also follow live game updates on our Twitter page - @occac_official, or on our Facebook page - www.facebook.com/occacofficial.