- Sophomore Rylan Smith leads DMACC with 17 points
- Sophomore Kaden Tate and freshman Brent Taylor each score 13 points
- Bears are 32-1 with 26-game winning streak
Sophomore Rylan Smith of Lincoln, Neb., scored 17 points as the DMACC men's basketball team held off a late threat by Lansing Community College (LCC) to come away with a 95-90 win in the Bears' opening game of the 2026 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II National Championship today at Danville, Ill.
Sophomore Kaden Tate of Pearland, Texas, recorded a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds and freshman Brent Taylor of Flossmoor, Ill., also finished with 13 points as the Bears improved to 32-1 overall with their 26th consecutive victory.
Freshman Hunter Gawron of Skokie, Ill., also reached double figures with 12 points.
DMACC, the tournament's No. 1 seed, had things going its way throughout the game until a late flurry from the 17th-seeded Stars put the final outcome somewhat in doubt.
DMACC led 40-35 at halftime and had a seemingly comfortable 25-point lead at 76-51 with just less than 11 minutes to play. But the Bears scored just five points over the next 5 minutes, 46 seconds as LCC closed to within 12 at 81-69 with 5:13 to play.
Gawron's three-pointer got DMACC a 15-point cushion at 84-69 with 3:55 left but LCC used a 13-5 run to get with seven at 89-82 with 36 seconds remaining. Two free throws from Taylor put DMACC up 91-82 with 33 seconds left. The Stars then got a regular basket from Lamont Green-Torbert with 25 seconds to go and Deandre Berry hit a three-pointer off a DMACC turnover to make it a 91-87 game with 16 seconds left.
Berry hit another three-pointer with five seconds to play following a free throw from DMACC sophomore Jayden Jones of Katy, Texas, and DMACC's lead was just two points, 92-90, with five-seconds to play. Taylor was fouled on the ensuing possession and made both free throw attempts as DMACC went up 94-90 and he was fouled again after another Deandre miss from three-point range and made one of two attempts to assure the Bears of the win.
DMACC shot 46 percent, hitting 34 of 74 field goal attempts. The Bears were 13-of-32 from three-point range and 14-of-22 from the free throw line.
LCC, led by Berry's game-high 39 points, made 35 of 73 field goal attempts for 48 percent. The Stars hit five of 21 shots from beyond the arc and were 15-of-21 from the free throw line.
Tate's 13 rebounds lifted DMACC to a 40-31 advantage on the boards. Freshman Solomon Mosley of Chicago, Ill., had six rebounds, Gawron came away with five and Taylor and freshman Landen Norris of Knoxville had four apiece. Smith dished out four assists and freshman Kavon Phillips of Davenport had a team-high three steals.
The DMACC men's basketball team will face Ellsworth Community College (ECC)- at 6 p.m. on March 18. ECC, a DMACC rival in the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC), dropped two games to the Bears during the regular season, 93-90 Dec. 13 at Iowa Falls and 84-74 in overtime Feb. 25 inside the DMACC gymnasium.
ECC is seeded eighth.
DMACC is making its third consecutive appearance in the NJCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship and its sixth in the past seven seasons. The Bears won the title in 2021. They finished third in 2022 and fifth in 2024.
