DANVILLE, Ill. – What an absolute battle. Macomb Men's Basketball fell in a back-and-forth triple overtime thriller, 78-77, to third-seeded Kirkwood in the Elite Eight of the 2025 NJCAA Division II National Championship on Wednesday (March 19). The loss shifts the sixth-seeded Monarchs to the consolation bracket where they will face Howard Community College (Md.) on Friday at 2 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. CT.

In what was a seesaw matchup throughout, the Monarchs battled back late in regulation to take a lead behind seven straight points from MCCAA Eastern Conference Player of the Year, Josh Hines. Up three with 12.1 seconds remaining in regulation thanks to a Hines triple, the Monarchs needed one stop to head to the Final Four but Kirkwood connected on a corner 3-pointer with five seconds left to send the game to overtime.

After two hard-fought overtime periods, the teams headed to a third extra frame where shots wouldn't fall for the Monarchs in the one-point heartbreaking loss.

While Kirkwood made the shot to extend the game to its first overtime, Jotham Nweke helped send the game to triple overtime with a timely 3-pointer from the wing with 19 seconds remaining in the second extra period.

Hines finished with a team-high 20 points and added five rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal. Nweke had the game's lone double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds and DaMaryon Fishburn finished with 12 points and nine rebounds despite exiting early in overtime with five fouls. Nweke also fouled out later in the contest.

Marlon Williams fought through an injury that saw him shelved for an extended period of time to finish with eight points and four rebounds. Lajuan Holloway had seven points and eight rebounds to go along with a team-high two blocks and Jalen Jenkins dished out a game-high five assists and added six rebounds and four points in a well-rounded effort.