Herkimer, NY (March 13, 2026) – Behind a career high 39 points from Alex Johnson (Worcester) the top seeded Northern Essex Community College men's basketball picked up an 88-85 victory over fourth seeded Salem Community College in the national semi-finals and advanced to the programs first ever national championship game on Saturday evening at 5:00pm where they will take on Dallas College-Richland.

Johnson shot 12-23 from the floor and went 15 of 19 from the free throw line to lead three players who scored in double figures for the Knights.

The Knights trailed by as many as six points in the first half before tying the game at 27 at the 6:08 mark of the half and would outscore Salem 22-15 over the closing minutes to take a 49-42 advantage to the locker room at halftime.

NECC would never trail in the second half and would lead by as many as eight points in the opening minutes but the majority of the second half would be a one possession contest with the Knights unwilling to relinquish the lead.

Alejandro Delgado (Haverhill) would score 15 points and likely had the biggest block of his career with 10 seconds remaining in the game as he stuffed a Salem defender going for a game tying layup.

Christian Sanders (Boston) scored 11 points.

For the contest, NECC shot 46.9 percent from the floor slightly behind the 48.3 percent shot by Salem.

NECC will become just the second team from New England to play in the NJCAA men's basketball national championship and first since 2000.