TCC men's basketball opens national tournament vs. Trinidad State Monday
The Tallahassee Community College men's basketball team opens its quest for a national title Monday.
The Eagles (25-8) received an at-large bid to the NJCAA Division I Tournament, announced on the NJCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Selection Show.
The 24-team tournament starts Monday and takes place at the Hutchinson Sports Arena in Hutchinson, Kansas.
The Eagles enter the tournament as the No. 12 seed and will play Trinidad State (23-7, 12-0) in the first round on Monday at 8:30 p.m. CT.
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TCC one of 3 teams from Panhandle Conference in national tourney
Trinidad State received an automatic bid to the tournament after winning the Northwest Plains District Championship 78-77 over Casper College. The Trojans feature a four-guard starting lineup and are riding a 19-game win streak.
This will be the first meeting between the two programs.
TCC is led offensively by sophomore guards Addison Patterson (19.2 ppg) and Malachi Davis (14.8 ppg).
The winner of Monday’s game will take on the No. 5 seed Salt Lake on Wednesday at 2 p.m. CT.
The Eagles advanced to the FCSAA/NJCAA Region 8 Championship Game, where they lost narrowly to Northwest Florida State. Twenty-five of TCC's 28 wins came against NJCAA Division I opponents.
TCC is one of three teams in the national tournament from the Panhandle Conference.
Defending national champion NWFS earned an automatic bid and is seeded No. 7. Chipola College received an at-large bid and is seeded No. 9.
The trio shared the conference regular-season title.
This is the fifth time in program history that the Eagles have qualified for the NJCAA Tournament, but will be just their fourth trip to Hutchinson, Kansas. The tournament was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Only 19 schools have reached the tournament more times than TCC.
TCC’s first trip to Hutchinson came in 1997 under head coach Mike Gillespie.
In 2006, TCC finished as national runners-up, after falling in the National Championship game to the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith.
The Eagles’ next trip to Kansas came in 2011, where they reached the quarterfinals.
The first four rounds of the tournament will be streamed on the NJCAA Network.
For $10, fans are able to stream all games in a given day of the tournament. For $30, you gain access to the entire tournament, besides Saturday's championship game, which will be televised on ESPNU.
Information from TCC's release contributed to this report
TCC Roundup
The baseball team (18-9 overall, 1-3 Panhandle Conference) earned its first conference victory Saturday, beating Northwest Florida State College 9-8 in 10 innings in Niceville.
Left fielder Cade Easterbrook knocked in three runs and designated hitter Matt Gonzalez led the team's 11-hit attack with three hits.
Closer John Kent (1-0) earned the win, finishing with three strikeouts in 2.2 innings.
TCC's four-game conference schedule this week features home games Wednesday against Gulf Coast State College at 5 p.m. and Friday versus Pensacola State College at 3 p.m.
TCC softball (18-4) opened conference play Sunday at home against Pensacola State College. The doubleheader was moved from Saturday to Sunday due to inclement weather.
The Eagles continue conference play with doubleheaders Tuesday at Chipola College and Thursday at home against Northwest Florida State College at 4 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: No. 12 seed TCC opens 24-team national tournament Monday in Kansas
