NECC Men’s Basketball team celebrates their third consecutive regional championship

Warwick, RI (March 2, 2025) – The Northern Essex Community College men’s basketball team led Sunday afternoon’s regional championship game for a total of 36 seconds, by taking a 1-0 lead in the opening minutes and again 81-80 with a Yuno Matsuda (Tokyo, JP) layup with 28.8 seconds remaining.

A pair of Alejandro Delgado (Haverhill) free throws sealed the deal. The #8 nationally ranked and top-seeded Knights defeated Quincy College by an 83-80 final score to secure their third straight regional championship. The win sent the Knights to 28-3 on the season and head coach Darren Stratton picked up his 350th career win.

Trailing by as many as 13 points in the second half, the Knights methodically clawed their way back, led by Delgado’s efforts. He scored a season and game-high 29 points, including a near perfect 11 of 12 from the free-throw line. He also grabbed 11 rebounds in the winning effort.

Ryan Pacy (Salem, NH) and Alex Johnson (Worcester) joined Delgado in double figures with 13 and 11 points apiece. For Pacy, nine of his points came at crucial moments in the second half.

The Knights become only the second school all-time and first in 37 years to win three consecutive Region 21 championships. They match the run of Mattatuck (CT) Community College from 1986-88. National tournament seeding and first-round matchups will be released will be released on Wednesday afternoon.