Davidson-Davie Community College wins NJCAA regional semifinal, returns to national championship

DANVILLE, Ill. — The Davidson-Davie Community College men's basketball team is one step away from a national championship.

Javeon Jones poured in 25 points and grabbed seven rebounds as the Storm never trailed in an 85-78 win over Sullivan County on Friday in a national semifinal game to secure DDCC's place in the National Junior College Athletic Association championship game, scheduled for Saturday at 8:30 p.m.

The No. 2-seeded Storm (33-2) will face top-seeded South Suburban (32-0) from South Holland, Illinois, in its home state.

Playing in its third straight NJCAA Tournament, DDCC reached last year's national championship game but fell to Des Moines (Iowa) Area Community College 86-76.

Three Davidson-Davie players from that squad took advantage of the NJCAA's extra-eligibility rule allowing an additional year of competition to players who wished to return. Jones, LJ Rogers and Tim Boulware came back to the Storm, and they've led DDCC's fight back to the title game.

Jones, a Rocky Mount alum who holds at least eight scholarship offers, has averaged 22.7 points and 7.3 rebounds in DDCC's three-game tournament run, raising his averages from 15.3 points and 5.8 rebounds during the regular season.

Uzziah Dawkins added 17 points in Friday's win, Aaron Ross scored 14 with five boards and four assists, and Chase Mebane had eight points.

Rogers scored seven points and pulled down five rebounds Friday while Jarvis Tillman grabbed six boards and blocked four shots. Boulware added four points, three rebounds and two assists.

Dawkins opened the Storm's scoring with a 3-pointer and they would go on to lead by as many as 18 points, making 10-of-30 3-point attempts and holding a 20-11 edge in second-chance points.

Davidson-Davie shot 43.3% to Sullivan's 47.6%, but the Generals made just 5-of-21 3-point shots.

DDCC outrebounded Sullivan 43-36 and led in assists 17-7.

South Suburban has won its three NJCAA Tournament games by an average of 22 points, and the Bears defeated defending champion Des Moines 69-57 in Friday's other semifinal.

Saturday's championship game is available for streaming on the NJCAA Network at njcaa.org/network for a $10 fee.

This article originally appeared on The Dispatch: Javeon Jones leads Davidson-Davie into national championship game