Fox Valley grads enjoying their run to postseason play

There is no shortage of Fox Valley area high school graduates alums playing in men's college basketball postseason action.

For starters, Huntley product Amanze Egekeze is part of a Belmont University team that qualified for the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament by winning the Ohio Valley Conference tournament championship.

Egekeze, a freshman, started all three games in the OVC tournament. In a 97-64 quarterfinal win over Eastern Illinois, Egekeze scored 12 points on 4-for-7 shooting from the floor (2-for-4 from the 3-point line) and a 2-for-2 effort at the free-throw line. He added 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals and 1 block in 28 minutes.

In a 53-52 semifinal win over Eastern Kentucky, he had 8 rebounds and made 1 of 2 free-throw attempts.

Egekeze again started in the championship game against nationally ranked Murray State and had 5 rebounds and 1 assist in the team's 88-87 win.

That win propelled Belmont (a No. 15 seed) to Friday's first-round NCAA game in Charlotte against No. 2 seed Virginia (29-3). That game starts at 2:10 p.m. Central time and can be seen on tru TV.

On the season, Egekeze has played in 32 games (23 starts) and is averaging 20 minutes of playing time. He's averaging 5.3 points (6th on the team) and 3.2 rebounds per game. Egekeze is shooting .342 from the 3-pointline (27-for-79) and .830 from the free-throw line. He also has 22 assists, 26 steals and 18 blocks.

Brown at North Dakota State: Elgin alum Kory Brown also is headed to the dance. Brown is part of a North Dakota State men's basketball team that will play in Seattle Friday night at 8:50 p.m. against No. 2 seed Gonzaga (32-2). North Dakota State (23-9) is the No. 15 seed. That game can be seen live on TNT.

North Dakota State earned an automatic berth into the tournament after winning the Summit League championship.

Brown had 6 points and 4 rebounds in 19 minutes of play in the team's 61-50 quarterfinal win over No. 7 seed Denver. Brown shot 4-for-5 from the free-throw line in the game.

He also had 4 points and 4 rebounds in 21 minutes in a 60-56 win over No. 3 seed Oral Roberts in the semifinals.

Brown then had 4 points and 8 rebounds (5 offensive) in the team's 57-56 win over top seed South Dakota State in the Summit League title game. He played 33 minutes.

On the season, Brown ranks third on the team in scoring at 8.2 points per game. He's also averaging 4.9 rebounds and has 48 assists, 23 steals and 21 blocks. Brown is shooting .487 from the field and has made 10 three-pointers this year. He's averaging 26 minutes of action and has started all 30 games for the team.

Moran at Northern Iowa: Jacobs graduate John Moran also is headed to Seattle. Moran is a graduate manager on the Northern Iowa University men's basketball team.

Moran enjoyed a stellar career as a player at UNI. He is the program's record-holder for most games played in a career (135) and is tied for the program record for most games won as a player (91). He ranks second in program history with 201 3-pointers and scored more than 1,000 points during his career there. Moran was part of two NCAA tournament qualifiers during his run at UNI.

UNI (30-3) is the No. 5 seed in the West region and opens play Friday at 12:40 p.m. Central time against No. 12 seed Wyoming (25-9). That game can be seen on TBS.

Williams at Barry: Elgin High product Arie Williams was part of a Barry University team that qualified for the NCAA Division II tournament.

Williams had 3 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists in 33 minutes of play in the team's 73-59 win over Union in the first round.

Williams followed that up with 12 points (3-for-6 from the 3-point line, 3-for-3 free throws) and 4 assists in 20 minutes of action in the team's 90-82 loss to Lynn in the South Region semifinals.

Barry finished the year with a school-record 25-6 mark.

Williams played in all 31 games and averaged 8.0 points, 1.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists. He also had 23 steals. Williams shot .421 from the 3-point line (69-for-164) and .813 from the free-throw line in an average of about 18 minutes of time per game.

Larkin graduates at Olive Harvey: Larkin alums Quentin Ruff and Quantice Hunter were part of an Olive Harvey men's basketball team that won the Region IV District B title.

Olive Harvey advanced to the NJCAA Division II national tournament where it dropped a 76-65 first-round game to John Wood. In that game, Ruff had 12 points (3 three-pointers) and 4 rebounds in 33 minutes of action, while Hunter had 11 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists in 30 minutes.

Heading into the national tournament, Ruff, who was named the MVP of the Region IV District B tournament, was leading Olive Harvey in scoring at 18.6 points per game. Hunter was second on the team at 17.2 points per game.

Both Ruff and Hunter earned all-Region IV District B tournament team recognition and also were named to the NJCAA All-Region IV Division II second team for their play throughout the season. Ruff earned Region IV Division II player of the week honors twice during the season, while Hunter was selected for that award once.

At one point recently Ruff was the NJCAA Division II national leader in 3-pointers made (123 at the time), while Hunter at one point in recent games ranked in the national Top 10 in both steals and assists.

Olive Harvey (25-9) faces Genesee (N.Y.) Community College Thursday in the consolation bracket of the tournament in Danville.