NWAC Men’s Basketball: Red Devils win 10 straight to top the West for sixth straight season

Photo Finish – Lower Columbia takes over No. 1 seed on final day of regular season

Jordan Nailon and Sam Barbee / blastzonenews@gmail.com

There was a one-month stretch in the middle of the season where the Red Devils looked like anything other than a sure bet. From Dec. 18 through Jan. 17 the Lower Columbia College men’s basketball team went 4-4 with losses to Green River and South Puget Sound and Shoreline threatening to start a nasty trend for the Devils.

But when the regular season came to its regularly scheduled conclusion Wednesday night with an 88-74 win at home over Grays Harbor at Myklebust Gymnasium, Lower Columbia had officially done just enough to storm all the way back to claim at least a share of the NWAC West title for the sixth consecutive season.

Sure, the Red Devils needed some help. Specifically, Green River chipped in with a win over South Puget Sound in their regular season finale. But LCC also won its final 10 games of the season just to be in a position to be champions of the West, again, so it’s not like them Devils were handed anything.

Instead, they went out and took everything that was left to take, and let the chips fall where they may.

“You can’t look ahead in college. You just can’t, because teams will get you,” LCC coach Mickey Polis said. “I’m proud of this group for staying grounded and understanding that every game counts and every game matters. To win 10 games in a row is difficult and I think we did it twice this year. It’s especially difficult when teams are gunning for you, and teams are gunning for us.”

That’s correct. The Red Devils did win 10 games in a row this year. Actually, they won 11 in a row to open the season before bookending the campaign with another double digit win streak. And after tiebreakers were applied by the powers that be at NWAC headquarters, LCC was awarded the No. 1 seed into the postseason.

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