Haverhill, MA (February 23, 2022) - The Northern Essex Community College men's basketball team making its first post-season appearance since 2018, left no doubt as they jumped out to an early lead and never looked back as they took down Springfield Tech by an 84-56 final. The improve to 19-8 on the season and advance to the Region 21 Final Four.

The Knights advance to take on Quincy College in the semi-final round, game details will be released on Thursday morning.

NECC jumped out to an early 11-2 and built the lead to 20, 29-9 with seven minutes to go in the opening half before taking a 38-19 lead to the locker room at half time.

Northern Essex saw 13 different players record a basket and were led by Daniel Almarante (Lawrence) and Elijah Haas (Haverhill) who each tossed in a team high 12 points. They were joined in double figures by Metin Yavuz (Istanbul, TR) and Kevin Monteiro (North Andover) who each recorded 10 points.

The 19 wins for the Knights is the most since they recorded 18 wins in the 2015-16 season.