Owls take down Marian Ancilla in Great Lakes District A Championship; Punch their ticket to Nationals!
First national appearance since 1987
Flint, MI- The train just keeps moving on down the tracks as the Oakland Community College men's basketball team took home the 2025 Great Lakes District A Championship on Saturday, beating Marian Ancilla 89-79.
With the win, the Owls will be heading to Danville, Illinois to participate in 2025 NJCAA DII Men's Basketball Championship. This will be the first time since 1987 that a men's basketball program at Oakland Community College has reached the NJCAA national tournament.
It was a tournament of highs and lows for the Owls, in the 3 games they played on their way to the title. The men opened up against St. Clair County on the home court, a team that had beat them twice previously during the regular season, but were able to overcome their previous loses on the year with a 74-72 win.
After an emotional semifinal matchup with Hocking College, the Hawks were forced to forfeit the contest, putting the Owls in line for the championship matchup against Marian University Ancilla College.
The Owls trailed majority of the first half against the Chargers, but cut their deficit to 5 heading into the half. As they have all year, the men came storming out of the half as they quickly got out to a double-digit lead that they held for most of the second half and would hold as they went onto win.
Three Owls took home All-Tournament team honors for their performances in the tournament. Sophomore Linden Holder and Freshman Justin Latham both received All- Tournament team awards, while Freshman Nick Speiser received All-Tournament team MVP. The players weren't the only ones to take home some hardware, as Head Coach Gjon Djokaj received the Great Lakes District A Coach of the Year award for his efforts in taking this Owls team to heights that haven't been reached in 38 years.
The 2025 NJCAA DII Men's Basketball Championship kicks off on Monday, March 17th but the men will not know their path forward until tomorrow when the Selection Show airs at 3pm.