Men's Basketball
The DCTC Blue Knights Men's Basketball team secured their first win of the season with a commanding 84-64 victory over RCTC on Saturday, November 9. This win marked their first in Rochester since 2019, also snapping a four-game losing streak. The Blue Knights showed resilience and determination, overcoming earlier challenges to earn a much-needed victory.
Manny Montgomery, 21, a sophomore guard on the Dakota County Technical College Blue Knights basketball team, was named to the NJCAA Division II Region 13 All-Region Team for the 2023–2024 season. Manny finished the season second in points per game and third in total points in NJCAA DII play. Manny was also named NJCAA DII Player of the Week (first week in January 2024), having averaged 33.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in two wins over Bay College and Gogebic Community College. He shot an efficient 22 for 37 (59 percent) from the floor, 5 for 6 (83 percent) from three-point range, and 18 for 22 (81 percent) from free throw line.
Blue Knights Men's Basketball player Manny Montgomery was recently named NJCAA DII Player of the Week! Montgomery, a Sophomore guard out of Jefferson High School in Bloomington, MN, averaged 33.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in two wins over Bay College and Gogebic Community College on January 5th and 6th. He shot an efficient 59% (22-37) from the floor, and was 5-6 (83%) from three-point range and shot 18-22 (81%) from the free throw line. Montgomery currently ranks 4th in the country in points per game, #2 in total points and #2 in total field goals made. Montgomery and the Blue Knights host their next context on Saturday, January 27 at 3pm against Iowa Lakes Community College.
Four members of the DCTC Blueknights move on to play at 4-year schools. Josh Lewis (upper left) Signed with Dakota State University(SD), he averaged 7.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game last season. His leadership skills will allow him to excel at the next level. D'Sean Larkins (upper right) After a tough start to the season due to injuries, D'Sean turned things around and became vital to late-season success. He averaged 7.5 points and 4 rebounds per game. He will be playing at Mayville State University(ND) this upcoming season. Ousseynou Ngom (bottom left) The 6'7 athletic forward will be taking his talents to Valley City State University (ND). He averaged 7 points and 6.2 rebounds. He also shot 49 percent from the field and shot 50 percent from deep. Keenan Jones (lower right) Signed with Missouri Valley College(MO), Keenan played in 26 games last season, he averaged 12.7 points, 5.2 rebounds, and shot 30.4 percent from three. He is expected to make an immediate impact at MOVAL.
The DCTC Blue Knights hosted the annual Golf Tournament Fundraiser at Emerald Greens Golf Course on August 26th. The fundraiser helps support current and future Blue Knight student-athletes, and had a great turnout that included many Blue Knights athletes, staff, friends, family, partners, and supporters.
The Blue Knights basketball team at Dakota County Technical College defeated the United Tribes Technical College Thunderbirds 76–73 in overtime Sunday, March 5, 2023, to win the NJCAA Region 13 Championship. DCTC beat Dakota College at Bottineau to advance to the tournament finals. The Blue Knights (15–11) will travel to Columbus, Nebraska, to play the Central Community College Raiders (21–9) on their home court in the North District playoff game Saturday, March 11, 2023, at 2 p.m. CST. Watch the livestream of the North District playoff game at: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/centralcccolumbus/ CCC downed Southeast Community College to win the Region 9 Championship. The North District champion will earn a bid to the 2023 NJCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Championship in Danville, Illinois, March 21–25, 2023. Head Coach Peter Olafeso led the Blue Knights to the national tournament last year and in 2020. This season is his third as the team’s head coach. “I am proud of this group,” Coach Olafeso said. “They are very resilient and have a business-like approach to being student-athletes. They work extremely hard and have put themselves in a position to play for a chance to go to the NJCAA DII National Tournament.” Go Blue Knights!
DCTC Blue Knights Men's Basketball will host the NJCAA Region XIII Division II Tournament this weekend, March 4-5. The tournament will kick off on March 4 at 1:00pm with United Tribes vs. Gogebic, followed by Bottineau vs. DCTC at 3:00pm. The Region XIII Championship game will be held on March 5 at 2:00pm. All games will be held at Inver Hills Community College (2500 80th St E, Inver Grove Heights, MN 55076). The tournament will also be streamed live on the Blue Knights Athletics YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@blueknightsathletics890/streams
Join Blue Knights Men's Basketball Live on YouTube today, November 2 at 7:00pm against Vermillion Community College for the 2022-23 Season Opener! Please click on link to watch live: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBlzdiw4E262l7c9UfsUlAQ
The men’s basketball team at Dakota County Technical College has advanced to the 2021–2022 NJCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Championship March 15–19, 2022, at the Mary Miller Center on the Danville Area Community College campus in Danville, Illinois. The #14 seed Blue Knights (18–8) are playing the #3 seed Sullivan Community College (SUNY Sullivan) Generals (26–3) in Game 2 of the national tournament’s first round at 11 a.m. CDT Tuesday, March 15. Live statistics will be available at the start of the event. DCTC advanced to the nationals by beating the Central Community College Columbus Raiders 71–67 at home March 5, 2022, to win the NJCAA DII Men’s Basketball North District Playoff. The team defeated the United Tribes Technical College Thunderbirds 94–93 in an away game February 27 to win the NJCAA Region XIII Championship. Read more about DCTC Men's Basketball trip to the National Tournament! Also, stay tuned for additional communication about watch parties on campus for the tournament games.
Join Blue Knights Men's Basketball Live on YouTube today, March 5 at 2:00p against Central Community College in Saturday's NJCAA Men's Basketball North District Playoff. The winner will represent the District in the NJCAA Division II National Tournament March 15-19 in Danville, IL. Please click on link to watch live: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBlzdiw4E262l7c9UfsUlAQ
The Dakota County Technical College Men's Basketball team defeated United Tribes, 94-93, in the Region 13 Division II Men's Basketball Championship game in Bismarck, ND. In a very intense and highly competitive back-and-forth game, it took a game-winning three-point shot from Janeir Harris to give the Blue Knights the win. Janeir Harris led the way with 28 points, with Ronnell Porter adding 25 and Manny Montgomery adding 16. Manny Montgomery and Ronnelle Porter were also selected to the Division II Men's Basketball All-Region 13 team, with Manny Montgomery earning MVP honors. The Blue Knights will face off against Central Community College in Saturday's NJCAA Men's Basketball North District Playoff. The winner will represent the District in the NJCAA Division II National Tournament March 15-19 in Danville, IL.
The Blue Knights Basketball team started the second half of the season with an impressive win over a region opponent Bay College 106-74. Seven players scored in double figures, with Janeir Harris (20 pts) and Malik Spearman (17 pts) leading the way. The Blue Knights (10-5) face off against Ellsworth Community College tonight, January 12 at 7:00 pm. Ellsworth is 12-6 on the year and just came off a win against last season’s National Champions, Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC).
Women’s soccer team nominated • 14 individual athletes nominated Dakota County Technical College has submitted nominations for 2020–2021 NJCAA All-Academic Awards for teams and individual players. The DCTC Blue Knights women’s soccer team (average GPA: 3.11) has been nominated for the NJCAA Academic Team of the Year Award. Fourteen Blue Knights softball, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, baseball and basketball players have been nominated for NJCAA Academic Student-Athlete Awards. Marki Struensee serves as the college’s athletic coordinator. Marki oversaw the nomination process for all six NJCAA teams at DCTC. “I am proud of each and every Blue Knight athlete,” she said. “In the past year, COVID has forced us to make some big changes to athletics as well as academics. These student-athletes worked hard to balance it all—at times with things changing daily. Congrats to the individual and team nominations, as well as those who didn’t make the nomination criteria. Thank you for all of your hard work!” DCTC Team Nominated Blue Knights Women’s Soccer Average GPA: 3.11 Bella Ciccarelli (4) • 3.81 GPA • Team and Student-Athlete [team photo unavailable] DCTC Individual Players Nominated Ben Goelz Baseball Freshman GPA: 4.00 • NJCAA All-Academic First Team Zach Gunderson Baseball Freshman GPA: 4.00 • NJCAA All-Academic First Team Ariyontai Hatcher Basketball Freshman GPA: 4.00 • NJCAA All-Academic First Team Jordi Herrera Men’s Soccer Sophomore GPA: 4.00 • NJCAA All-Academic First Team Alissa Merrick Women’s Soccer Freshman GPA: 4.00 • NJCAA All-Academic First Team Caitlin Springer Women’s Soccer Freshman GPA: 4.00 • NJCAA All-Academic First Team Kirby Pieri Baseball Freshman GPA: 3.97 • NJCAA All-Academic Second Team Riley Pederson Baseball Freshman GPA: 3.95 • NJCAA All-Academic Second Team Maria Gutzmann Softball Freshman GPA: 3.94 • NJCAA All-Academic Second Team Benjamin Simonsen Baseball Freshman GPA: 3.91 • NJCAA All-Academic Second Team Lilly Hernandez Women’s Soccer Sophomore GPA: 3.88 • NJCAA All-Academic Second Team Elizabeth Lehrer Softball Freshman GPA: 3.82 • NJCAA All-Academic Second Team Isabella Ciccarelli Softball, Women’s Soccer Freshman GPA: 3.81 • NJCAA All-Academic Second Team Dalton Burns Baseball Freshman GPA: 3.75 • NJCAA All-Academic Third Team
Baseball Starts Season with Splits vs NIACC & Iowa Lakes and swept by Iowa Western DCTC 3 Iowa Lakes 2 Goplen's walk-off gives the Blue Knights Victory Over Iowa Lakes CC in extras. The game was tied at two with Blue Knights batting in the bottom of the eighth when Seth Goplen singled on a 1-1 count, scoring one run. Earlier DCTC evened things up at two in the bottom of the seventh inning when Riley Pederson singled on a 1-2 count, scoring one run. Ben Simonsen was the winning pitcher for the Blue Knights. He surrendered zero runs on three hits over two innings, striking out one and walking zero. Logan Sjoberg started for DCTC allowing two hits and two runs over six innings, striking out two. The Blue Knights tallied nine hits. Goplen and Nick Baker each collected multiple hits. Iowa Lakes 4 DCTC 1 The Blue Knights lost the lead late in a 4-1 defeat to Iowa Lakes CC. The game was tied at one with Iowa Lakes CC batting in the bottom of the sixth when Joan Benavidez drew a walk, scoring one run. Ben Cradle took the loss for the Blue Knights. Cradle allowed two hits and three runs over one inning. Chase Oslin started the game for the Blue Knights. The righthander allowed three hits and one run over five innings, striking out seven. DCTC tallied one home run on the day. Mitch Goodwin went deep in the fourth inning. Nick Baker, Goodwin, and Ben Goelz each collected hits. #11 Iowa Western 7 DCTC 1 Nothing came easy for Blue Knights on Saturday, as they fell 7-1 to Iowa Western CC. Ben Simonsen took the loss for the Blue Knights. The righthander surrendered seven runs on nine hits over five innings, walking one. Brady Klehr, Tommy Pederson, and Mitch Goodwin each managed a hit. #11 Iowa Western 14 DCTC 0 DCTC watched the game slip away early and couldn't recover in a 14-0 loss to Iowa Western CC on Saturday. Dalton Fouquette took the loss surrendering eight runs on eight hits over two and a third innings, walking zero. Ben Goelz led Blue Knights with two hits. #11 Iowa Western 10 DCTC 0 Sunday was a long day for Blue Knights, falling to Iowa Western CC 10-0. One bright spot for Blue Knights was a double by Mitch Goodwin in the fourth inning. Mason Primus took the loss for Blue Knights. The pitcher allowed six hits and nine runs over two innings, striking out one. #11 Iowa Western 15 DCTC 4 The Blue Knights struggled in a 15-4 loss to Iowa Western CC on Sunday. Blue Knights tallied three runs in the fourth inning. Blue Knights offense in the inning was led by Michael Rasmusson and Joe Jeans, all sending runners across the plate with RBIs in the inning. Ben Goelz took the loss. Mitch Goodwin went for the long ball in the fifth inning. DCTC tallied seven hits on the day. Goelz and Rasmusson all managed multiple hits for the Blue Knights. DCTC 7 NIACC 3 The Blue Knights scored three runs in the fourth inning. Brock Goelz and Mitch Goodwin each drove in runs during the inning. Logan Sjoberg was the winning pitcher for the Blue Knights. He surrendered three runs on six hits over seven innings, striking out one. The Blue Knights tallied seven hits on the day. Nick Baker and Goelz each had multiple hits for DCTC. The Blue Knights stole six bases during the game. Joe Jeans led the way with two. NIACC 13 DCTC 4 Blue Knights watched the game slip away late and couldn't recover in a 13-4 loss to NIACC on Wednesday Nights. NIACC scored five runs in the seventh inning. Paulson and Ben Tallman powered the big inning with RBIs. Chase Oslin took the loss, he surrendered four runs on four hits over one inning. Tommy Peterson led the Blue Knights with two hits
