By PATRIC FLANNIGAN
Sports Editor
It’s championship season.
The SAU Tech Rockets and Lady Rockets both stamped a ticket to play in the NCJAA Regional Championship games this weekend with both teams having to play against Arkansas State Mid South.
The Lady Rockets will play Mid South in West Memphis at 6 p.m. tonight while the Rockets will host Mid South at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
It’s the second consecutive year for the Lady Rockets to play in the Regional Championship game. Despite dealing with numerous injuries throughout the season, the Lady Rockets amassed a 7-3 record in conference play and had to defeat a tough South Ark Stars team at home in the first round to stay alive in the tournament. On Tuesday, the Lady Rockets had to play North Arkansas College in Harrison - a team that defeated the Lady Rockets by 26 points just two weeks ago. SAU Tech was able to walk away with a 67-63 overtime win. In that game, Payton Peoples led the team with 17 points followed by Jordan Shelton with 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists and Ta’Kyla Allen with 15 points and seven rebounds.
The Rocket Mens team survived a late scare against North Arkansas College on Wednesday winning 79-78 to advance to the title game. SAU Tech finished the regular season with a 9-1 conference record to win its first regular season conference title in school history. The Rockets lone conference loss came against Mid South on March 11 in a 73-71 game on the road.