DANVILLE, Ill. – Juwan Maxey (Detroit, Mich./Renaissance) dropped in a game-high 27 points and three other Monarchs reached double figures scoring as Macomb Men's Basketball defeated the Lakers of Iowa Lakes Community College, 92-86, in the seventh place semifinals at the NJCAA Division II National Championship.

The win, the Monarchs' 30^th of the season (30-4), sets up a meeting with MCCAA Eastern Conference counterpart, St. Clair County Community College, on Saturday (March 23) at 1 p.m. ET.

The Monarchs and Skippers split their regular season meetings with each team winning on the road.

On Friday, Maxey poured in 18 of his 27 points in the first half alone to lead the Monarchs to a 44-34 halftime advantage. Iowa Lakes made it a contest late, but the Monarchs made winning plays down the stretch, highlighted by a defensive effort that forced the Lakers to take a timeout to avoid a five second call. The timeout turned into a technical as the Lakers did not have any timeouts remaining and the Monarchs capitalized on both free throws to secure the win.

Maxey shot 10-of-18 overall (6-11 3PM) and added four rebounds and three steals, while Josh Hines (Macomb, Mich./Dakota/U-Indy) followed with 15 points and six boards. Nate Brown (Flint, Mich./Davison) posted an efficient 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the floor and a 5-of-6 effort from the charity stripe and DaMaryon Fishburn (Detroit, Mich./Trillium Academy) checked in with 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting to go along with four rebounds.

The Monarchs, a team shorthanded with two key sophomores likely out of the lineup due to injury, will look to win their 31^st game of the season when they battle the Skippers tomorrow afternoon in Danville.