Men's Basketball: CCBC Essex Prepares for Postseason Run

CCBC Essex coach Mike Francis said he knew building the Knights into a consistent winner would take time when he took over the program three seasons ago.

Francis believes his team is on the cusp of greatness as CCBC Essex prepares to enter the MD JUCO tournament this week. The Knights are the fifth seed in the 16-team tournament and will host Anne Arundel Community College at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

CCBC Essex (16-9, 11-5 MD JUCO) enters the tournament having won three straight and six of its last seven. This includes a 70-55 win on Saturday to close out the regular season at Anne Arundel Community College.

The winner of that game would face the winner of fourth-seeded Cecil Community College and 13th-seeded Howard Community College in a quarterfinal game at 1 p.m. Friday at Frederick Community College. Frederick is also the site of the semifinals and finals, which takes place on Saturday and Sunday.

“We’re starting to understand what it takes to be a winner,” said Francis, who is 42-37 in three seasons at the helm. “Everyone has bought into what we’re teaching and knows what their role is on this team.”

The Knights have proven to be a deep team with any one of a number of players able to provide an offensive spark. This includes sophomore guard Jordan Benson, who is third in the conference in scoring at 21.5 points per game.

Benson is also one of four CCBC players averaging at least 10 points a game. Others players include sophomore forward David Ford (18 ppg), freshman guard Jerrium Beale (13 ppg) and sophomore guard Malcolm White (12.1 ppg).

Beale is also a force in the paint as he is fifth in the MD JUCO in rebounding at 10.6 per game. In addition, the Knights also have the leadership of sophomore guard Greg Hunt, who leads the conference in assists per game (7.2).

“We’ve got any number of guys capable of scoring big for us,” Francis said. “It can be tough for opponents to game plan for us.”

Benson said he is confident in his team’s chances to go deep into the tournament, but knows the Knights can’t take anything for granted.

Anne Arundel Community College (10-16, 4-12) is led by sophomore guard Lawrence Jenkins, who averages a team-best 13.6 points per game. The Pioneers also have the services of sophomore forward Clifford Quinn, who averages 12.6 points and 6.1 assists per game.

“We’re not entering this tournament expecting to be done after the first round,” Benson said. “We’re playing our best basketball of the year right now, but we understand that anyone can step up big in the postseason.”

Here is the pairings for this week's MD JUCO tournament:

Tuesday, Feb. 15

No. 16 College of Southern Maryland at No. 1 Hagerstown CC

No. 9 Garrett CC at No. 8 Montgomery College-Rockville

No. 12 Anne Arundel CC at No. 5 CCBC Essex

No. 13 Howard at No. 4 Cecil CC

No. 14 CCBC Dundalk at No. 3 Allegany CC

No. 11 CCBC Catonsville at No. 6 Prince George's CC

No. 10 Chesapeake College at No. 7 Baltimore City CC

No. 15 Harford CC at No. 2 Frederick CC

Friday, Feb. 18

Quarterfinals at Frederick CC

Saturday, Feb. 19

Semifinals at Frederick CC

Sunday, Feb. 20

Finals at Frederick CC