Riverland Community College Blue Devils men’s basketball team rolls by Prince George’s 93-78 in first round of NJCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament

The Riverland Community College Blue Devils men’s basketball team, the No. 10 seed in the NJCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Tournament in Herkimer, New York kicked off action in the tournament Wednesday versus the No. 7 seed Prince George’s Community College Owls from Maryland Wednesday, and it was the Blue Devils seeing four players score in double figures as they downed the Owls in the opening round 93-78.

With the game tied at 14 in the first half, the Blue Devils went on a 16-7 run to take a 30-21 lead, and after a 3-pointer from the Owls cut the Riverland lead to 30-24, a layup from Demar Jenkins with 5:06 left in the half pushed the Blue Devils lead over 10 for the first time in the game at 35-24.  A 3-pointer from former Austin Packer Buai Duop later gave Riverland a 14-point lead at 40-26, and the Owls were only able to cut the the lead to under 10 once for the rest of the half at 43-34.  A 3-pointer from Jenkins with :05 seconds left in the half pushed the Blue Devils lead back to 12 at the half at 46-34.

Riverland kept their foot on the gas to start the second half, as a 3-pointer from DeWayne Thompson with 18:15 left gave the Blue Devils their biggest lead of the game to that point at 51-36, and a layup from Jenkins with 14:13 left late gave the Blue Devils an 18-point lead at 61-43.  When Prince George’s crept as close as eight points at 77-69 with 5:26 left, a 3-pointer from Christian Campbell restored Riverland’s 10+ point lead at 80-69, and the Blue Devil lead never dropped below 10 points the rest of the way.

Damar Jenkins led the Blue Devils in scoring with 19 points off the bench, as the Riverland bench wound up outscoring Prince George’s bench 38-10 for the contest.  Forward Savier McCall totaled 18 points, Buai Duop wound up with 14 points, Daeshawn Jackson chipped in 10 points, both Christian Campbell and Nazih Chechade scored nine points apiece, Jourdan Weddle supplied seven points, DeWayne Thompson scored five points, and Avery Weddle totaled two points in the win.

The Blue Devils are now 30-3 on the season, and they are back in action at 7 p.m. this (Thursday) evening as they take on No. 2 seed Northern Essex Community College out of Haverhill, Massachusetts.