Brookdale Men's Basketball Wins First-Ever National Championship

LOCH SHELDRAKE, NY - Brookdale Community College (N.J.) won their first DIII men's basketball national championship Saturday with a 61-55 win over Eastfield College (Texas). The Jersey Blues became the first New Jersey school to win the DIII men's title since 1994.

Brookdale Men's Basketball Wins First-Ever National Championship
Box Score

Team Stats

March 17, 2013

Freshman forward Joe Nickerson (right, #30) led the way for Brookdale, scoring a game-high 21 points on 6-of-14 shooting from the field and added seven rebounds and two steals to the effort. Jersey Blues freshman guard David Rosado contributed 15 points and seven rebounds, while sophomore guard Amir Gilliam dished out a game-high 10 assists.

Trailing 44-43 with under eight minutes remaining, Nickerson and Rosado led the Jersey Blues on a 15-5 run to take a 58-49 lead with 3:33 to play. The Harvesters cut the deficit to five with 1:33 left but Brookdale's defense tightened up down the stretch to hold on for the 61-55 victory.

Nickerson was named Tournament MVP after putting up double-figures in scoring for all three of Brookdale's games. For the tournament, Nickerson averaged 16.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.

Brookdale's victory in the championship improved their final record to 33-1 and capped off their 2012-13 campaign with a five-game win streak. Eastfield's loss dropped their record to 29-5 for the season.

Fans can relive all of the action from Loch Sheldrake, N.Y. by watching archived broadcasts of all 12 games on NJCAA TV. Visit the NJCAA DIII Men's Basketball National Championship Page for tournament awards, photos, stats and other information.

TOURNAMENT MVP
Joe Nickerson (Brookdale)

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Jonathan Feiler (Herkimer County)
Boris Fodouop (MassBay)
Justyn Galloway (Rochester)
K.J. Jones (Caldwell Tech)
Mike Love (Eastfield)
Brandon Schwebke (Rock Valley)
Neil Thompson (Brookdale)
Willie Williams III (Sullivan County)