SCTCC Men’s Basketball Makes National Championship Tournament

ST. CLOUD -- March Madness is in full swing for the St. Cloud Technical and Community College Men's Basketball team.

Thursday afternoon the team learned they made the NJCAA Men's Basketball National Championship Tournament, a first in school history.

The Cyclones were an at-large bid in the new bracket style format. They will have the #11 seed and will face #6 seeded Hostos in Rochester Wednesday night.

Sophomore guard Torez Kinchen says this is what they worked for back in September and they can't be satisfied now.

We've been working for this moment all season. We are ready and hungry. It's not time to play around it's time to be focus and ready to play when your number is called.

The Cyclones finished the year at 25-3 and won their division for the second straight year.

Sophomore guard Paul Coleman says they plan to pick up the intensity in practice this week as they prepare for their first round match-up.

We are going to go at each other and push each other, we want everybody to be at their best.

Head Coach Andy Cone says making the national tournament has been a goal for them all season long and he's proud of what his team has accomplished.

I'm just excited for each player. We've talked about making it to this level for years and our goal this year was to win a championship. I think trying to reach new levels is exciting and for me trying to competed against national programs is exciting.

Cone says they will spend the next couple of days as a staff watching tape on their opponent, while mentally preparing the team for the big stage.

The NJCAA Men's Basketball National Championship Tournament runs March 11th through March 14th.