Twelve games into its basketball existence, the Southeast Arkansas College men’s team broke into the NJCAA Division II top 25 poll for the first time.
The 24th-ranked Sharks and 25th-ranked Oakland Community College of Michigan are the two newcomers in the poll, which was released Monday. SEARK (10-2, 3-1 Region 2) is coming off a 69-68 win at Coahoma Community College, a Division I team in the Mississippi Delta, on Saturday.
The Sharks have been riding the strong outside shooting of sophomore Tobias Prall in recent games. Prall has made 26 of 48 3-point shots in the last 4 games and is 50 for 109 (45.9%) from the arc, while shooting 48.1% from the floor and making 18.5 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists per game.
SEARK won a season-high 5 straight games until a loss last Thursday at Arkansas State University Mid-South in West Memphis. The Sharks bounced back by avenging a home loss to Coahoma on Nov. 18 and got 27 points from Prall, according to official online stats. Prall scored a season-high 34 at home against North Arkansas College on Dec. 9.
Derek Magwood leads the Sharks in scoring (18.9 points per game), followed by Prall, Jalen Brown (15.6) and Israel Malone (10.4).
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
North Central Missouri College (14-0) is ranked No. 1 this week, moving up one spot from last week. Kirkwood Community College (12-1) of Iowa is No. 2, followed by Davidson-Davie CC (11-1) of North Carolina, Macomb CC (7-1) of Michigan and Parkland College (11-1) of Illinois.
Teams 6-15, in order, are Pima CC (11-0) of Arizona, Des Moines Area CC (12-2) of Iowa, St. Clair County CC (9-1) of Michigan, Ellsworth CC (12-2) of Iowa, Kalamazoo Valley CC (9-0) of Michigan, State University of New York Niagara (14-0), Florida State College at Jacksonville (11-3), South Suburban College (9-2) of Illinois, Johnson County CC (11-2) of Kansas, and Monroe CC (11-2) of New York.
Teams 16-25 are Bay College (10-2) of Michigan, Montgomery College (9-1) of Maryland, St. Louis CC (11-1), Madison College (8-1) of Wisconsin, Henry Ford College (6-2) of Michigan, Iowa Western CC (10-4), Howard CC (7-3) of Maryland, Waubonsee CC (10-1) of Illinois, SEARK, and Oakland (10-1).
A lengthy holiday break has the Sharks on hold until Jan. 6, when they host Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas at UAPB’s H.O. Clemmons Arena. The next Region 2 game is set for Jan. 9 at home against Southern Arkansas University Tech.