Photo courtesy of Iowa Central Athletics: The Iowa Central men celebrate their first NJCAA national tournament berth in men's basketball since 2012.

ROSEMOUNT, Minn. — For the first time in 14 years, the Iowa Central men’s basketball squad is headed to the NJCAA Div. II National Tournament.

The 11th-ranked Tritons claimed the North Central B District title with a convincing 97-75 victory over Dakota County here Saturday afternoon.

With the win, Iowa Central (26-6 overall) heads to nationals in Danville, Ill. starting March 16 alongside ICCAC rival DMACC. The Bears claimed the Region 11-A title; the Tritons won the Region 11-B tourney.

Aleix Sempere scored a game-high 26 points, going 11-for-14 from the field to lead Iowa Central. Tashun Pender added 23 points on 11 of 15 shooting.

CJ Mitchell scored 15 and Jalen Wynter chipped in 12.

“It’s a great feeling,” ICCC head coach Mason Denholm said. “This group has had this goal since we were first together in June. All the hard work they’ve put in and the sacrifices have paid off.

“We are excited to get to continue the journey with them for a couple more weeks.”

Denholm is in his first season leading the program after replacing Ryan Kirsch, who he was an assistant to last year.

Iowa Central jumped out to an early 10-point lead at the half, putting the game out of reach thanks in large part to eight made 3-pointers over the final 20 minutes.

Pender finished with a double-double, as he added 12 rebounds — including six on the offensive glass. Jordan Cain contributed nine points and eight rebounds. Mitchell dished out six assists.

For Dakota County, D’Marco Chelley scored 22 points and Yarin Alexander had 20.

The Tritons have been tested throughout the season. In addition to finishing second in a conference that includes No. 2 DMACC and ninth-ranked Ellsworth — who they faced off with four times — Iowa Central played No. 3 Johnson County and fifth-ranked Milwaukee Area Tech during the year.