ESCANABA, Mich. – Macomb Men's Basketball captured its second MCCAA Championship in program history on Saturday (March 2) with a 94-85 win over MCCAA Championship Tournament host and 13^th ranked Bay College. The fifth-ranked Monarchs qualified for the MCCAA Championship Tournament by winning the program's fifth Eastern Conference title and later defeated Western Conference Champion Kalamazoo Valley CC by a 137-111 final on Friday evening to get to Saturday's title tilt.

The host Norse won the Northern Conference and earned the right to host due to this year's tournament rotation.

While Saturday didn't feature a 137-point outburst, the Monarchs' offense continued to roll as the Blue & White tallied 94 points on 55% shooting to hold off a talented Norse squad for the championship. The Monarchs took a 55-46 advantage into the halftime locker room and led by as many as 16 in the latter half to earn the victory.

Juwan Maxey (Detroit, Mich./Renaissance) stayed hot in chilly Escanaba and followed up his 29 point performance on Friday with a team-best 24 points in the victory over the Norse. Tymias Williams (Macomb, Mich./Dakota) followed with 16 points and hauled in a game-high 10 rebounds for his third consecutive double-double (sixth overall this season).

Parker Day (Saginaw, Mich./Heritage/GVSU) stuffed the stat sheet to the tune of 15 points, six rebounds, six assists and one emphatic block, while Josh Hines (Macomb, Mich./Dakota/U-Indy) rounded out four Monarchs in double figures scoring with 10 points and added three assists.

Nate Brown (Flint, Mich./Davison) tied Day for the team lead in assists with six and chipped in with nine points, while Tate MacKenzie (Ypsilanti, Mich./Lincoln) equaled Brown in the scorebook with nine points and Jotham Nweke (Oak Park, Mich./Loyola) followed with eight points.

IT'S TOURNEY TIME
Postseason play is up next as the fifth-ranked Monarchs earned the top seed in next week's Great Lakes District B Tournament. The top-seeded Monarchs have a first round bye in the tournament and will play Friday (March 8) at 6 p.m. in the District B Semifinals against the winner of Tuesday's play-in game between Alpena and Muskegon. The other semifinal features West No. 1 Kalamazoo Valley and the third ranked team out of the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC), Cuyahoga CC. The winner of each semifinal contest will move on to play in the District B Championship on Sunday (March 10) at 4 p.m. The District B Champion will receive an auto bid to the 2023-24 NJCAA Division II National Championship in Danvile, Ill., March 18-23.

COACH OF THE YEAR
Congratulations goes out to first-year head coach Christopher Burns on being named MCCAA Coach of the Year! Burns becomes the second head coach in Macomb Men's Basketball history to earn the honor in his first season at the helm (Hassan Nizam, 2021-22).