Haverhill, MA (March 6, 2026) – The Northern Essex Community College men's basketball team, the number one overall seed in next week's national tournament had four players named to the Region 21 All-Region teams following a vote of the leagues coaches, including Region 21 Player of the Year Alejandro Delgado (Haverhill) being named regional Player of the Year. Head coach Darren Stratton was also named Region 21 Coach of the Year for the fourth straight year and fifth time overall in his 23 years as head coach.

With Delgado headlining the All-Region First team he was joined by teammates Christian Sanders (Boston) who earned second team honors while Yunosuke Matsuda (Tokyo, JP) and Alex Johnson (Worcester) both earned honorable mention recognition.

For Delgado, its his second straight season earning first team honors as his name is scattered among the top five in several statistical categories in the region. While he led the region in rebounds at 12 per game. He also ranked fifth in field goal percentage at 53.4 percent, while averaging 18.1 points per game, and fifth in assists with 107. On the defensive end he finished four in the region with 62 steals. He was named the NJCAA National Player of the Week back on December 7^th.

Sanders, who nearly averaged a double-double on the seasons finished seventh in the region in rebounding at 9.6 rebounds per game while also averaging 12.1 points per game. He also led the team in blocks at one per game.

Matsuda, who spent the majority of him time on the floor running the point for the Knights finished second in the region with 120 assists on the season. He delivered a season best eight assists against Bristol in the regional quarterfinal win last week.

Johnson, who played hero in the regional championship game scoring the game winning basket with 3.8 seconds remaining as part of his season high 23-point performance, finished second on the team in scoring with 12.2 points per game.

NECC will return to the court next Thursday March 12^th in a national quarterfinal contest scheduled to tip off at 2:00pm on the campus of Herkimer College in Herkimer, NY against the winner of an opening round game between eighth seeded Northampton and ninth seeded Genesee.