With its fifth straight trip to the National Junior College Athletic Association’s Division I Championships secured, the Trinidad State College men’s basketball team will challenge Snow College of Ephraim, Utah, on Sunday at 11 a.m. in Hutchinson, Kan. BRACKET
Coach Mike Folda’s Trojans (17-16) continue to dominate play in NJCAA Region IX as Trinidad State captured the school’s seventh all-time berth in the national finals by posting a 101-91 win over in-state rival Lamar Community College on March 7 in Sterling, Colo. TSC has now won 18-straight post-season games during the past five Region IX finales.
Snow College (30-4) earned an at-large bid as the Badgers struggled at the end of the season by winning only once in their last four games. However, all four were on the road as Snow fell twice at Southern Idaho in Twin Falls – 71-66 on February 28 and 64-60 on March 7 in the Region XVIII postseason title game.
Before the end of the season setbacks, Snow was ranked No. 1 on February 23 in the NJCAA Division I polls. This is the fifth time Snow has been selected to participate in the NJCAA National Tournament and the first time ever in consecutive seasons.
When asked about this year’s team, Folda said, “I didn’t really see this group winning the region this year. We were very inconsistent and had plenty of blowout losses. After our first-round win at Gillette, our kids had me feeling there might be a chance.”
Folda added, “It’s crazy that we have won five in a row, because I don’t know if I ever believed that we would be able to get one.”
As for playing Trinidad’s opponent in the nationals, Folda said, “Snow is very good. Rumor has it that they have 11 Division 1 players on their team. They were No. 1 in the country for most of the year. They will have a tremendous height advantage as well. We will need to do a great job rebounding and shoot it pretty well to be there in the end. ”
