WARREN, Mich. – For the second time in three seasons and for only the third time in program history, Macomb Men's Basketball sits alone atop the MCCAA Eastern Conference as outright league champions. The 2023-24 MCCAA Eastern Conference Championship winning Monarchs improved to 23-3 overall and 12-1 in league play with a 104-89 home win over Wayne County Community College on Sophomore Day Saturday (Feb. 24) at the Sports & Expo Center.
The outright title means the Monarchs will head to Escanaba on March 1 & 2 to compete for the 2023-24 MCCAA Championship. The MCCAA Championship is a two-day event that brings together the three conference champions across the MCCAA (East, North and West) to crown an overall champion. The North Champion, Bay College, will host this year's event and will receive the bye into the March 2 championship game. The Monarchs will face West Champion, Kalamazoo Valley Community College, for the third time this season when the East and West champs square off for the right to play Bay College for the MCCAA crown.
Saturday's win also secured the East No. 1 seed in the upcoming Great Lakes District B Tournament. As the East No. 1 seed, the Monarchs will receive a bye into the March 8 semifinals at Mott Community College and will await the winner of the North No. 3 vs. North No. 4 seed matchup that takes place on March 5. Stay tuned for information on game times and more early next week.
On Saturday, the Monarchs raced out to a 22-5 lead but the Wildcats battled back to take a narrow edge into the halftime break. After exchanging baskets to begin the latter half, the Monarchs pulled away behind a 27-16 run to earn the title-clinching victory.
Juwan Maxey (Detroit, Mich./Renaissance) paced six Monarchs in double figures with 26 points. The sophomore added nine rebounds and six assists in what was his latest all-around effort on the hardwood this season.
Tymias Williams (Macomb, Mich./Dakota) followed closely with 23 points and added 10 rebounds, four assists, two blocks and two steals, while
Kyle Millender (Detroit, Mich./DEPSA) dished out a game-high eight assists to go along with 13 points in the win.
Justin James (Sterling Heights, Mich./Stevenson) had 12 points, five rebounds and a pair of assists and
Josh Hines (Macomb, Mich./Dakota/U-Indy) checked in with 11 points and two boards.
Nate Brown (Flint, Mich./Davison) closed out six Monarchs in double figures with 10 points and added five assists and three rebounds.
The Monarchs shot 56% as a team and outrebounded Wayne County to improve to 23-0 on the season when collecting more rebounds than the competition.
A road trip to Jackson College on Tuesday (Feb. 27) is up next. The regular season finale will tip-off at 7:30 p.m. on Jackson's campus.
