NJCAA tournament: Magnusson leads SLCC to victory

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Faced with a top-10 opponent threatening to take complete control before halftime, Salt Lake Community College received a timely offensive boost from Logan Magnusson.

Magnusson, a sophomore forward, scored eight straight points to fuel a decisive 18-0 run that lifted the Bruins to a 77-59 victory over Shelton State Community College (Ala.) at the Hutchinson Sports Arena in first-round action of the NJCAA Men's Basketball Tournament on Tuesday afternoon.

Magnusson came up just shy of a triple-double, finishing with 17 points, nine rebounds and nine assists against the 7th-ranked Buccaneers. D.J. Wright chipped in 20 points and nine boards to lead SLCC.

The Bruins (28-6) fell behind, after taking a 12-3 lead, when Shelton State (31-3) used a 15-2 run to go in front of SLCC. The Buccaneers scored 10 unanswered points at one point — taking an 18-14 lead on a basket from Brandon Williams.

Shelton State extended its lead to 24-17 with 4:50 left in the first half following a 3-pointer and free throw from Sterling Jones.

But the Bruin offense found new life behind Magnusson's efforts. He scored eight straight points and put SLCC back in front 25-24 on a jumper with 2:54 left before halftime.

SLCC continued the spurt by producing the last 16 points of the half. Ricky Shoff capped off a run of 18 unanswered points with his basket that made it 35-24 for the Bruins barely a minute into the second half.

The Bruins will now face the North Dakota State College of Science (31-2) in the quarterfinal round today at 6 p.m.