Box Score SLCC Men's Basketball Wins Region 18 Championship, Defeats Rival Southern Idaho

Bruins to host District I Championship on Saturday at Bruin Arena

	1	2	Final
SLCC	30	32	62
CSI	22	27	49

 
Ephraim, UT—The No. 2-seeded SLCC Men's Basketball team (26-6) defeated rival No. 1 seed College of Southern Idaho (CSI) (27-5) by a final score of 62-49 on Saturday night in the Region 18 Championship Game hosted by Snow College.

The Bruins build an early six point lead, with CSI chipping away to tie the contest at 22 point apiece with 9:23 remaining in the first half. A three point basket from sophomore guard Gary Payton II (Las Vegas, NV) helped the Bruins reclaim the lead and a subsequent layup for freshman guard De'Sean Parsons (Sacramento, CA) gave SLCC a 30-22 lead at the halftime break.

Salt Lake opened up a 16 point lead in the second half and maintained that margin through the four minute mark in the second half. Southern Idaho cut the Bruin lead to 9 points but would get no closer as SLCC held on for its second consecutive Region 18 Championship.

Stats vs. CSI: Parsons led the Bruins with 13 points to go with two rebounds and one steal. Payton II added 12 points and completed a double-double with 14 rebounds. Sophomore guard Jaden Jackson (Salt Lake City, UT) tallied 11 points with three rebounds and a pair of assists and sophomore forward Kurtis Toolson (Gilbert, AZ) finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and two assists.

Region 18 All-Tournament Team Selections from SLCC:

Payton II was named Tournament MVP and Jackson earned All-Tournament team honors.

What's Next: Head Coach Todd Phillips and the Bruins will face the Arizona Collegiate Athletic Conference (ACAC) winner No. 22 ranked Mesa Community College (25-5) in the District I Playoff Game at Bruin Arena on Saturday, Mar. 8 with tipoff slated for 7 p.m. The winner of the District I Playoff earns an automatic bid to the NJCAA National Tournament in Hutchinson, KS, while the loser of the contest will hope for an at-large berth to the tournament.

Game Coverage: The District I Playoff will be available for viewing via the SLCC Athletics iHigh.com live Web stream at: www.ihigh.com/saltlakecc/. The broadcast will start 10 minutes prior to tipoff. Live stats will also be available at www.slccbruins.com under the 'Live Stats and Web Streaming' tab.