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Southwest Home
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SOUTHWEST OPENS NJCAA TOURNEY AGAINST
4TH-RANKED TEAM
 The
Southwest men’s basketball team will take on Highland (IL) Community College
in an opening round game of the NJCAA National Tournament at 2 p.m. on
Tuesday, March 21 in the Hutchinson Sports Arena in Hutchinson, Kansas. The
winner of this game will play the winner of Southwestern Illinois vs.
Southern Idaho on Wednesday, March 22 while the losers of the two games will
play on Thursday, March 23 at 10 a.m.
The Saluqis, under the direction of head coach Verties Sails Jr.
(pictured at right), enter the tournament with an overall record of 23-6
and were ranked 16th in the final NJCAA poll. Highland was ranked 4th in the
final poll and is currently 31-1 on the season. Sails, who was named the
TJCCAA Coach of the Year for the eleventh time, has compiled a coaching
record of 584-231 in 27 seasons at the College. The Saluqis are competing in
the national tournament for the ninth time including a runner-up finish in
1998.
 Southwest,
one of the nation’s top scoring teams at 96.6 points per game, is led by a
trio of sophomores. The first is 6’3” guard Lester Hudson (pictured at
left), who was first team All-TJCCAA and runner-up for conference Player
of the Year. Hudson was named Most Valuable Player of the Region VII
Tournament after scoring 22 points in the Saluqis’ 92-73 victory over
Columbia State in the championship game. He is the team’s leading scorer
with a 17.6 average and is also among team leaders with 163 rebounds, 87
assists and 66 steals.
Moraye Ivy, a high school teammate of Hudson at Memphis Central High School,
was selected second team all-conference and was also named to the
all-tournament team. On the season, the 6’6” Ivy is averaging 12.6 points
and 5.8 rebounds and leads the team with 68 steals. The third player is
Anthony Pigram, who was a third-team All-TJCCAA pick. Pigram, a 6’1” guard
who has signed with Tennessee State University, is the team’s second leading
scorer with a 14.2 average and leads the Saluqis with 81 three-point field
goals and a .872 free throw percentage.
Freshmen starters for Southwest are forwards Greg Grimes and Chris Evans and
point guard Nathan Walton. The 6’7” Grimes, who came to Southwest from
Laurinburg Institute after playing at Louisville Ballard High School, is
averaging 9.9 points per game and a team-leading 6.1 rebounds. In addition,
he was named to the Region VII all-tournament team. Evans, a 6’7” post
player from Ft. Worth (TX) Dunbar High School, is averaging 7.5 points and
5.6 rebounds per game. Walton, a graduate of Memphis Westwood High School,
is averaging 3.6 points per game and leads the team with 106 assists.
Other top contributors for the Saluqis are freshman forward Donald Boone
(Hamilton High School), sophomore forwards Darius Simmons (Gary, IN) and
Anthony Barbee (Ripley High School), and freshman guard Maurice Mickens
(Middle College High School).
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