The Hutchinson Community College men’s basketball team unleashed its best total effort of the season on Thursday at the most opportune time – knocking off the defending national champions in the 2016 NJCAA Tournament quarterfinals.
The Blue Dragons had one of their most prolific offensive performances in their illustrious NJCAA Tournament history as seventh-seeded Hutchinson ousted No. 2 seed and 2015 national champion Northwest Florida State 116-90 at the Sports Arena.
Now 31-4, the Blue Dragons will face No. 11 seed Ranger College (31-5) in the second national semifinal at 8 p.m. on Friday. Eighth-seeded Gillette College (32-1) and 13th-seed Salt Lake (29-8) will clash in the first national semifinal at 6 p.m.
Hutchinson will be making its first trip to the national semifinals since the national championship year of 1994, and the program’s 10th overall appearance in the NJCAA Tournament semifinals. The Blue Dragons are 10-1 in the quarterfinal round of the national tournament. HCC is the first Region VI team to reach the semifinals since Seward County in 2012. – See more at: http://www.bluedragonsports.com/news/102362#sthash.4wojbSRr.dpuf
