Prince George's Men's Basketball Advances To NJCAA Division III District VII Championship Game And Third Battle With Montgomery

ROCKVILLE, Md. – Shiloh Beale scored 19 points to propel Prince George's Community College past Southern Crescent Technical College 68-54 in the National Junior College Athletic Conference (NJCAA) Division III District VII Semifinals on Saturday.

With the win, the Owls (17-13) will face Montgomery College for the NJCAA Division III District VII Tournament Championship on Sunday at 2 p.m. The winner will advance to the NJCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championships on Mar. 15-17 at Sullivan County Community College. Tickets are $5.

Beale shot 6-for-10 from the floor, 1 of 4 from behind the arc and 6 of 6 from the free throw line. The freshman has scored 18 points or more six times in his last nine games. Beale, who scored double figures in each of his last nine games, has now registered double digits in points 12 times this season. He also registered four rebounds, three steals and one assist on the afternoon.

Gus Stone (Baltimore, Md./North County) added 17 points and five rebounds while Kennith Ford (Forestville, Md./National Collegiate) chipped in 13 points off the bench.

Prince George's took the lead in the first half and sustained a run in the stanza before extending the advantage and never looking back to earn its first district victory since 2012. The squad will now be looking to move onto the national tournament for the first time since 2008.

With the score tied at 9, the Owls rolled off seven of the next nine points to take the lead they would not relinquish at 16-11 with 11:47 left in the first half. Darren Rivers (District Heights, Md./Duval) registered three points in this stretch with Beale and Stone each posting two points.

The Tigers came back to trim the margin to 20-19, but Prince George's used a 12-0 run to grab a 32-19 advantage with 3:41 left in the stanza. Ford notched seven of the 12 points in this surge. Southern Crescent Technical trimmed the margin to eight points, but the Owls went into the locker room with a 38-26 margin.

In the second half, the Tigers cut the deficit to 10 points on several occasions, but each time Prince George's answered and went on for the 68-54 victory.

Rivers registered five points and eight rebounds off the bench. The Largo team is making fifth appearance in the district tournament in the last seven years.

Montgomery advanced to the NJCAA Division III District VII Championship Game with an 85-59 win against eighth-ranked Sandhills Community College in the other semifinal on Saturday. The Raptors and the Owls will battle for the third time this season and for the second time at the MC-Rockville Gymnasium. It will also be the second meeting between the two county rivals in eight days.

Stone (20 points) and Mykal Johnson (Seat Pleasant, Md./Charles H. Flowers) (22 points) paced the Largo program in the regular season meeting in Rockville on Dec. 20 while Collin Turner fueled Montgomery with 38 points. Stone (19 points) and Ford (15 points) led the Owls in the NJCAA Division III Region XX Tournament Championship Game on Feb. 24 while Afanna Offor powered the Raptors with 23 points in that tilt.